THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


TKc  RALPH  D.  REED  LIBRARY 

DEPARTMENT  OK  GEOLOGY 

UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIF. 


^tn  or  Oil  Companies  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, Alumni  and  Faculty  of  Geology  Depart- 
ment and  University  Library. 

1940 


My  *%  /I  M\ 

/  EARLY  TIMES 


IIsT 


r  E  x  A  s 


BY  J.  C.  DUYAL. 


COPYRIGHTED 


H.  P.  N.  GAMMEL  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 
AUSTIN, 


f-a- 


PRINTP:D  AND  BOUND 


EUGENE  VON  BOECKMANN, 

AUSTIN,  TEXAS. 


CONTENTS. 


EARLY  TIMES  IN  TEXAS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory — Volunteers  for  Texas — Down  the  Missis- 
sippi— New  Orleans — Out  on  the  Gulf 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

First  View  of  the  "Promised  Land  " — Mustered  into  Ser- 
vice— Unsuccessful  Cruise 18 

CHAPTER  III. 

Leave  for  Copano — Rendezvous  of  Lafitte  the  Pirate — 
March  to  Refugio — March  to  Goliad ^3 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Description  of  Goliad — Tired  of  Tramping  the  Boys 
Mount  Mustangs  but  Dismount  very  Expeditiously. ...  29 

CHAPTER  V. 

Rumors  of  the  Advance  of  Santa  Anna — Massacre  of 
Capt.  Grant  and  his  Men — Battle  of  Refugio  and  Mas- 
sacre of  Capt.  King  and  his  Men — Col.  Fannin's  Re- 
treat and  Fatal  Halt  in  the  Prairie 35 


ir  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Mexican  Cavalry  surround  us  on  the  Prairie — Col.  Hor- 
ton  and  his  Men  cut  off  from  us — Retreat  of  the 
Knemy • 4° 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Texan  Loss  in  the  Coletto  Fight— Dismal  Night  on  the 
Prairie — Capitulation  agreed  upon — Mexican  Loss  in 
the  Fight 46 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Major  Ward  and  Battalion  brought  to  Goliad — Also  Capt. 
Miller  and  men—  Marched  out  in  three  Divisions — The 
Massacre — Dobell  Escapes 51 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Headed  off  by  a  Party  of  Lancers — Witness  the  Murder 
of  Five  or  Six  of  our  men — Execution  of  Col.  Fannin 
—Wonderful  Escape  of  Wm.  Hunter 56 

CHAPTER  X. 
$ 

Narrow  Escape  from  Lancers — Suffering  from  Hunger — 
Lost — Return  nearly  to  Goliad 61 

CHAPTER  XL 

Great  Suffering  from  Hunger — Reach  the  Guadalupe 
River — Indians — Mexican  Lion 66 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Mexican  Marauders— Brown  and  myself  captured — At- 
tempt to  escape — I  succeed  but  Brown  is  recaptured — 
Sleep  once  more  under  a  roof 72 


Contents.  v 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

-Unsuccessful  Search  for  my  Companions — I  set  out  again 
— Trailed  by  Indians 77 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Sleep  Luxuriously  in  a  bed — Make  Another  Start — At- 
tempt to  Steal  a  Mexican  Soldier's  Gun 83 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Followed  by  Wolves — Mexicans  and  Indians — Indian 
Camp — Signal  Smokes — Lost  on  the  Prairie 88 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Narrow  Escape  from  Indians — Reach  the  Colorado  River 
and  swim  it — Old  Caney  Creek — Immense  Cane  Brake 
— Get  into  comfortable  quarters  94 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

In  Clover — Pitching  a  Tent  over  a  "Den"  of  Rattlesnakes 
Followed  by  "Scout" 100 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Camp  in  Cane  Brake — Vain  Search  for  a  Road — Narrow 
Escape  from  a  Party  of  Lancers 104 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Return  to  my  Domicil — Another  Start — Again  in  Search 
of  a  Road — Night  Alarms in 

CHAPTER  XX. 

I  astonish  a  couple  of  Mexicans — Return  again  to  my 
old  quarters — Find  a  Road  across  the  Brake  at  last — 
Encounter  with  two  bears 117 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Kid    Farewell    to    my    comfortable    quarters— Immense 
ue  Brake— Dodge   a   Mexican  Soldier,   and  a  Party 
of  Indians I22 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Prairie  on  Fire— Narrow  Escape  from  Drowning— A 
Mirage— Mexican  Cavalry— Meet  with  two  Spies  from 
the  Texan  Army  and  return  with  them 127 


777 K  YOUNG  EXPLORERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Leave  for  Texas  again — Find  an  Old  Schoolmate — Agree 
to  go  West  with  him i 

CHAPTER  II. 

Stop  at  an  "unhealthy"  locality — A  party  of  Comanches 
pay  us  a  visit — Cayote  Ranche 14 

CHAPTER  III. 

Leave  Cayote  Ranch — Witness  a  Race  between  Tim  Mc- 
Garity,  Pat  O'Houlihan  and  a  large  party  of  Indians 
— The  Exploring  Expedition 26 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Make  the  acquaintance  of  Uncle  Seth — He  finally  agrees 
to  take  command  of  the  Exploring  party — Leave  Fron- 
tier Hall 46 


Contenfs.  rii 

CHAPTER  V. 

San  Antonio — The  Alamo  and  the  old  Missions — Bowie 
and  Crockett — Fight  between  Citizens  and  Comanches 
in  the  Plaza — Riding  Match  betweed  Rangers,  Coman- 
ches and  Rancheros 64 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Mr.  Pitt  courts  the  Muses — Leave  the  City — Turkey 
Steaks — A  False  Alarm 74 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Indian  Sign — The  ''Stampede" — Cudjo  disappears  in  the 
Row,  but  turns  up  unexpectedly 84 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Cudjo's  race  with  the  Javalinas — They  tree  Henry  and 
myself — Wolves  around  Camp 93 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Off  again — Meet  a  company  of  Trappers — Indian  Hier- 
oglyphics— A  vast  Drove  of  Mustangs 104 

CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  Pitt  tells  of  his  narrow  escape  from  Comanches — 
The  Canyon  de  Uvalde — The  old  Mine.... 117 

CHAPTER  XL 

Mr.  Pitt's  odorous  Yarn — Kill  our  first  Buffalo — The 
Beaver's  Dam — Uncle  Seth  tells  how  Bill  Shanks,  on 
his  little  muel,  beat  his  race  nag 135 


,.///  Content*. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Reach  the  Rio  Frio— Meet  a  party  of  Choctaw  Indians 
Take  Dinner  with  them— Mr.  Dobell's  Yarn 155 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Henry  and  Willie  go  on  a  Buffalo  Chase  with  the  Choc- 
taws — Indian  RockTower — Lawrence  and  I  find  a  huge 
Nugget *  7  7 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Kxplore  a  part  of  the  country  on  the  west  branch  of  Frio 
— Camp  at  the  Head  of  the  Frio  ...» 200 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Indian  Sign — Big  Drunk's  Spies  discover  a  Comanche 
Camp — Preparing  for  the  Scrimmage 213 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Comanches  attack  us — Henry  and  Cudjo  wounded — 
Choctaw  killed — Comanches  driven  off — Return  to 
Frontier  Hall — Concluding  Remarks 226 


APPENDIX. 

List  of  Men  under  the  Command  of  Col.  J.  W.  Fannin 
in  1835—36 243 


PREFACE. 


Several  of  my  young  friends  here  who  have  read  a  little 
book  I  published  many  years  ago,  entitled  "  The  Adventures 
of  Big  Foot  Wallace,"  and  were  pleased  with  it,  have  re- 
quested me  to  write  another  and  tell  them  whatever  I  thought 
would  interest  them  about  early  times  in  Texas.  In  reply  I 
stated  to  my  young  friends  that  I  had  lived  the  greater  por- 
tion of  my  life  on  the  frontiers,  where  opportunities  for  learn- 
ing and  improvement  in  a  literary  way,  were  as  few  and  far 
between  as  the  settlements,  and  consequently  I  did  not  think 
I  was  capable  of  writing  a  book  that  would  interest  them  like 
those  of  Mayne  Reid  and  many  other  popular  authors  of 
juvenile  works.  But  my  young  friends  said  that  boys  didn't 
care^much  for  style  or  literary  merit,  that  all  they  wanted 
was  a  truthful  account  of  scenes  and  incidents  that  had  actu- 
ally occurred,  not  fictitious  ones  that  never  had  an  existence 
exceptjn  the  imagination  of  the  author. 

Since  then  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  my  young 
friends  were  probably  right  in  saying  that  -a  boy  would  be 
more  interested  in  a  story  he  bcheved  to  be  true,  although 
badly  told,  than  he  would  be  in  one  he  knew  was  fictitious, 
even  if  it  were  faultless  as  a  literary  production.  I  have  there- 
fore determined  to  comply  with  their  request  and  write  them 
as  good  a  book  as  I  can  about  early  times  in  Texas  (which  is 
all  they'can  reasonably  expect).  I  candidly  admit  that  the 
many  defects  and  crudities  of  the  book,  have  had  but  little 


in  rrc'icr. 

weight  with  me  in  determining  the  question  of  its  publica- 
tion. Any  expectation  I  may  have  had  of  its  favorable  re- 
ception, is  based  solely  upon  the  fact  that  the  "old  Texans" 
have  always  shown  a  liberality  towards,  and  a  willingness  to 
favor,  as  far  as  they  could,  every  one  who  came  to  their  aid 
when  they  were  struggling  for  life  and  a  free  government 
against  a  merciless  foe — and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  descendants  of  these  old  pioneers  are  true  "  chips  of 
the  old  blocks,"  only  perhaps  a  little  more  polished,  owing  to 
the  advantages  they  have  had  in  the  way  of  education,  etc. 
If  the  saying  be  a  true  one  that  "  Republics  are  ungrateful," 
then  has  Texas  been  a  most  notable  exception  to  the  general 
rule,  for  her  libeiality  towards  all  who  served  her  in  her  time 
of  need  (however  unimportant  the  service  may  have  been) 
has  been  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  nations. 

As  I  am  fully  aware  the  only  claim  this  book  has  to  patron- 
age is  that  the  scenes  and  incidents  described  therein  are  not 
fictitious,  I  lay  great  stress  upon  the  fact  that  all  I  have 
stated  in  regard  to  my  own  adventures  is  strictly  tme.  I  can 
say  this  unhesitatingly,  for  the  narrative  was  compiled  from 
memorandums  written  shortly  after  my  escape  from  Goliad, 
when  everything  was  fresh  in  my  memory.  The  scenes  and 
incidents  described  in  the  second  part  of  the  book  entitled 
"The  Young  Explorers  "  are  also  true  though  not  occurring 
just  as  stated,  for  I  have  connected  them  together  in  a  con- 
tinuous narrative  (in  which  several  fictitious  characters  have 
been  introduced),  because  I  thought  they  would  be  more 
likely  to  interest  a  reader  in  that  form  than  they  would  if  told 
in  disconnected  fragments. 

The  frontiersmen  or  backwoodsmen  as  a  class,  like  the 
natboatmen  of  the  Mississippi,  must  soon  become  extinct,  for 
the  day  is  fast  approaching  when  there  will  be  no  frontiers  or 
backwoods  within  the  present  boundaries  of  the  United 
States.  Their  mission  'will  have  been  accomplished,  and 


Preface-  11 

that  such  a  class  ever  existed  in  our  country,  will  be  known 
to  future  generations  only  through  vague  tradition,  or  because 
a  few  individuals  among  them,  such  as  Daniel  Boone  or  Kit 
Carson,  have  been  prominent  enough  to  entitle  them  to  a 
passing  notice  in  history.  I  have  endeavored  as  far  as  I 
could  to  give  the  reader  a  correct  idea  of  this  unique  class 
now  rapidly  becoming  extinct,  and  of  the  peculiar  state  of 
affairs  that  existed  in  Texas  at  an  early  day  ;  and  for  that 
reason  I  hope  this  book  will  not  be  altogether  without  inter- 
est to  those  who  have  known  Texas  only  as  it  is  now,  or  was 
for  a  few  years  past. 

It  is  due  to  our  colored  citizens  to  say,  that  in  depicting 
the  character  of  Cudjo,  I  had  no  intention  whatever  to  ridi- 
cule or  cast  a  slur  upon  them.  I  have  merely  attempted  to 
describe  a  type  of  the  race  common  amongst  them  in  ante- 
bellum days,  and  which  in  all  probability  would  have  been 
as  common  among  any  other  race  of  people,  if  like  them 
they  had  been  for  so  long  a  time  subjected  to  the  demoral- 
izing influences  of  ignorance  and  a  degrading  servitude. 
Now  that  they  have  been  liberated  "  by  the  arbitrament  of 
the  sword,"  and  can  avail  themselves  of  all  their  rights  as 
free  citizens  of  our  common  country,  I  hope  (and  believe 
from  the  advances  they  have  already  made)  that  the  time 
will  soon  come  when  they  will  place  themselves  upon  a  level 
with  those  who  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  freedom  whilst 
they  were  in  a  state  of  slavery. 

With  this  explanation  of  the  whys  and  wherefores,  I 
launch  my  little  cranky  craft  on  the  vast  and  uncertain  ocean 
of  "literary  ventures,''  hoping  its  favorable  reception  by  my 
young  friends  in  Texas,  will  wait  it  into  the  haven  of  success 
alongside  of  many  a  more  lofty  and  pretentious  bark. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Early  Times  in  Texas,  or  the  Ad- 
ventures of  Jack  Dobell. 


OHAPTEK  I. 

INTRODUCTORY — THE   VOLUNTEERS   FOR  TEXAS — DOWN   THE 
MISSISSIPPI — NEW  ORLEANS — OUT  ON  THE  GULF. 

In  1835  the  people  of  Texas,  or  rather  the  settlers  from  the 
"  States,"  determined  to  throw  off  the  Mexican  yoke,  and  re- 
sist to  the  last  extremity  any  further  encroachment  upon  their 
liberties.  At  that  time,  with  the  exception  of  Mexicans  and 
Indians,  there  was  probably  not  more  than  twenty  thousand 
people  in  the  colonies,  and  although  the  Mexican  government 
for  several  years  previously  had  shown  a  disposition  to  ignore 
the  rights  and  privileges  guaranteed  them  under  the  Consti- 
tution of  1824,  I  hardly  think  the  colonists  with  their  lim- 
ited means  and  numbers  would  have  ventured  to  rebel  against 
its  authority,  if  they  had  not  counted  largely  on  getting  all 
the  aid  they  should  need  to  carry  out  the  revolution  success- 
fully, from  their  friends  and  brethren  in  the  United  States. 
In  this  expectation  they  were  not  disappointed.  Many 
young  men,  from  almost  every  State  in  the  Union,  armed  and 
equipped  at  their  own  expense,  hastened  to  the  assistance  of 
the  colonists,  as  soon  as  the  standard  of  rebellion  was  raised. 

A  volunteer  company  was  organized  for  this  purpose  in  my 
native  village,  and  although  I  was  scarcely  old  enough  to 
bear  arms,  I  resolved  to  join  it.  But  it  was  no  aspiration  for 
"  military  fame  ''  that  induced  me  to  do  so.  One  of  the  fre- 


//  /•,>//•///   T'uncx  iii   Texas. 

quent  visitors  at  ray  father's  house  was  an  old  friend  of  his, 
who  had  been  in  Texas  and  traveled  over  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  it,  and  who  subsequently  held  a  position  in  the  cabi- 
net of  the  first  president.  He  was  enthusiastic  in  his  praise 
of  the  country,  and  insensibly  an  ardent  longing  sprang  up 
in  my  bosom  to  see  for  myself  the  "  broad  prairies,"  the 
beautiful  streams  and  vast  herds  of  buffalo  and  wild  horses 
of  which  he  had  so  often  given  me  glowing  descriptions.  By 
joining  this  company  I  thought  an  opportunity  would  be  af- 
forded me  of  gratifying  it  which  perhaps  might  never  again 
offer  itself,  and  so,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  relatives  and 
friends,  my  name  was  added  to  the  muster  roll. 

I  purchased  a  good  Kentucky  rifle  (with  the  use  of  which 
1  was  already  well  acquainted),  shot  pouch,  powder  horn, 
tomahawk,  and  butcher  knife,  and  thus  equipped,  with  my 
knapsack  on  my  shoulders,  I  fell  into  ranks,  and  amid  the 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  and  the  cheering  of  bystandeis  I  bid 
adieu  to  my  native  village  and  started  for  the  "  promised 
land  "  of  Texas. 

It  was  the  latter  part  of  November  when  we  left  B — ,  and 
though  not  very  cold,  the  snow  was  some  three  or  four  inches 
deep  on  the  ground,  which  retarded  our  march  so  much  that 
we  only  made  about  twenty  miles  by  sunset,  when  we  halted 
for  the  night  in  a  grove  near  the  margin  of  a  stream  that 
empties  into  the  famous  "  Salt  River."  We  cleared  away  the 
snow  from  under  the  trees,  built  up  log  heaps  for  fires,  and 
after  eating  our  supper  of  hot  coffee,  "  hard  tack  "  and  fried 
middling,  for  which  our  tramp  had  given  us  excellent  appe- 
tites, we  spread  our  blankets  upon  the  fallen  leaves  and 
turned  in  for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  we  were  on  the  road  by  sunrise,  and  about 
dusk,  after  a  toilsome  and  fatiguing  march  through  the  slush 

d  mud  (for  a  thaw  had  set  in)  we  reached  the  city  of  Lou- 
isville and  took  up  our  quarters  at  the  Gait  House.  The 


of  Jack  DolK-ll.  15 

next  day  we  purchased  a  supply  of  provisions — enough  to  last 
us  for  the  voyage — and  went  on  board  of  a  steamer  bound 
for  New  Orleans. 

Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  on  the  passage.  Occa- 
sionally, by  way  of  varying  the  monotony  of  our  daily  life, 
we  would  go  ashore  when  the  boat  landed  for  wood  or  freight, 
and  get  up  an,  impromptu  "  shooting  match,"  in  which  the 
.skill  of  our  Kentucky  riflemen  was  exhibited,  greatly  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  "natives."  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for 
many  of  them  to  put  three  balls  out  of  five,  at  the  distance 
of  one  hundred  yards,  into  a  paper  not  larger  than  a  silver 
dollar. 

The  second  day  of  the  voyage  we  left  the  snow  and  ice  be- 
hind us,  and  on  the  fourth  we  came  to  the  region  of  "Spanish 
moss."  The  trees  on  both  banks  of  the  river  were  draped  in 
its  long  funereal  folds,  which  waving  slowly  back  and  forth  in 
the  breeze,  was  too  suggestive  of  any  but  cheerful  thoughts. 
The  next  day  we  came  to  the  "coast,"  a  strip  of  country  so 
called,  extending  along  the  river  for  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  above  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  It  is  protected  from 
overflow  (though  not  entirely)  by  what  are  termed  "  levees," 
or  embankments,  thrown  up  on  each  side  of  the  river,  a  few 
paces  back  from  the  margin,  but  these  are  sometimes  broken 
through  in  very  high  stages  of  water.  The  river  was  uuusu- 
ally  full  at  the  time  we  passed,  and  in  one  place  we  noticed 
where  the  water  had  made  a  breach  in  the  embankment  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  in  width,  through  which  it  was  rushing 
with  the  velocity  of  a  mill  race,  and  had  already  inundated 
the  coast  country  on  that  side  as  far  as  the  eye  could  extend. 

From  the  time  we  struck  the  "coast"  we  experienced  no 
more  cold  weather.  Everywhere  the  forests  were  still  green, 
and  the  orange  and  pomegranate  were  bending  down  with  the 
weight  of  their  ripened  fruit.  Here,  too,  we  first  observed 
extensive  fields  of  cotton  and  sugar  cane,  in  the  former  of 


jH  Kurl//    Tiiurs   in 

which  gangs  of  negroes  were  seen,  bearing  huge  baskets 
filled  with  the  "snowy  fleece"  upon  their  woolly  heads. 

The  fifth  day,  we  reached  New  Orleans,  fortunately  just  in 
time  to  secure  a  passage  on  a  schooner  that  was  to  sail  the 
next  day  for  Velasco,  a  small  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Brazos 
river.  The  following  day,  before  the  schooner  was  ready  to 
sail,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  see  the  city,  of  which  I  was 
glad  to  avail  myself.  The  great  number  of  vessels  moored  in 
along  line  to  the  wharves,  the  puffing  of  steamboats,  the 
clatter  of  drays  and  carts,  the  noise  and  bustle  on  the  levee, 
and  the  jargon  of  foreign  tongues  were  all  calculated  to  fill 
with  astonishment  and  wonder  the  mind  of  a  youth  who  had 
never  before  been  beyond  the  precincts  of  his  native  village. 

In  the  evening  we  embarked  with  all  our  goods  and  chat- 
tels on  the  schooner,  and  having  made  fast  to  a  tow-boat,  in 
company  with  two  ships  and  a  bark,  we  were  soon  under  way, 
and  bade  farewell  to  the  "Crescent  City,"  and  its  forests  of 
masts  and  tapering  spires  quickly  faded  away  in  the  distance. 

From  New  Orleans  to  the  mouth  ot  the  Mississippi  the 
scenery  along  the  river  is  monotonous  and  dreary.  Low 
swampy  lands  extended  back  in  an  unbroken  level  as  far  as 
we  could  see,  in  some  places  entirely  covered  with  water  and 
in  others  with  a  rank,  luxuriant  growth  of  reeds  and  coarse 
grass,  among  which  cranes  and  many  other  aquatic  birds 
could  be  seen  silently  standing  in  rows,  or  stalking  solemnly 
about  in  search  of  the  reptiles  with  which  these  marshes 
abounded.  Along  the  shores  immense  piles  of  drift  wood 
were  heaped  up,  amongst  which,  and  scarcely  to  be  distin- 
guished from  the  decayed  logs  composing  them,  the  black 
scaly  sides  of  an  alligator  could  now  and  then  be  seen,  to  be 
saluted  whenever  within  range,  by  a  shower  of  bullets  from 
our  rifles. 

The  Mississippi  empties  into  the  gulf  by  three  mouths  and 
about  10  o'clock  the  day  after  we  had  left  New  Orleans,  we 


Adventures  of  Jack  DoheU.  17 

entered  the  one  called  the  "  Southwest  Pass"  and  an  hour 
or  so  afterwards  we  had  crossed  the  "bar"  and  were  roll- 
ing and  tossing  upon  the  blue  waves  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  line  was  cast  off  from  the  tow-boat,  sails  hoisted  and 
soon  we  were  scudding  along  before  a  fair  wind  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  distant  shores  of  Texas.  For  a  long  way  out  we  no- 
ticed that  the  blue  waters  of  the  gulf  refused  to  "fraternize" 
with  the  vast  muddy  stream  continually  pouring  in  from 
the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  a  few  hours  we  lost  sight  of  the  low  shores  of  Louisiana, 
and  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  the  sky  and  the  apparently 
interminable  waste  of  blue  water.  Our  schooner  was  a  small 
one,  and  with  more  than  fifty  passengers  on  board,  it  can 
easily  be  imagined  we  were  packed  rather  too  closely  to- 
gether for  comfort.  For  my  share  of  the  sleeping  accomoda- 
tions,  I  appropriated  a  large  coil  of  chain  cable,  in  the  hol- 
low of  which  by  doubling  up  after  the  fashion  of  a  jack 
knife,  I  managed  to  snooze  pretty  comfortably  at  night. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CATCHING  A  NORTHER— FLYING  FISH— LAND  HO  !— THE  CITY 
<>f  VELASCO— DANGEROUS  BAR— FIRST  VIEW  OF  THE  "PROM- 
I.-KD  LAND"— NOT  VERY  PROMISING — CAMP  AT  THE  RIVAL 
CITY  OK  QUINTANA — MUSTERED  INTO  SERVICE  —  FALSE 
ALARM— ORDERED  ON  BOARD  OF  SLOOP  OF  WAR  INVINCIBLE 
— GALVESTON  ISLAND — Loss  OF  ONE  OF  OUR  BOAT'S  CREW 
— UNSUCCESSFUL  CRUISE. 

The  second  day  of  our  voyage  about  sunset,  we  observed  a 
black  cloud  towards  the  north,  which  spreading  rapidly  soon 
obscured  the  whole  heavens.  Sails  were  hauled  down  and 
reefed,  the  hatches  secured,  and  every  precaution  taken  for 
the  safety  of  the  vessel  in  the  approaching  "norther" — one 
of  those  fierce  winds  that  frequently  occur  during  the  winter 
season  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  on  the  prairies  of 
Texas.  We  had  scarcely  made  "all  snug"  when  the  norther 
struck  the  schooner  with  unusual  violence,  carrying  away 
our  maintop  mast,  and  forcing  the  vessel  almost  upon  her 
beam  ends.  She  soon  righted  however,  and  away  we  flew 
before  the  blast  that  whistled  and  shrieked  through  the  cord- 
age in  a  way  not  at  all  pleasant  and  enlivening  to  the  ears 
of  a  landsman.  In  a  little  while  the  waves  began  to  rise  and 
the  vessel  to  toss  and  pitch  like  an  unbroken  mustang,  and 
feeling  some  of  the  premonitory  symptoms  of  sea  sickness, 
such  as  a  frantic  effoit  to  throw  up  my  boots,  I  retired  to  my 
coil  of  cable  below  ;  but  the  tossing  of  the  schooner,  the 
rushing  of  the  waves  along  side  and  the  trampling  of  sailors 
en  deck  effectually  drove  away  sleep. 

The  next  morning  the  storm  had  abated,  the  sun  shone  out 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  19 

clear  and  warm,  and  from  tha^t  time  until  we  reached  Velasco 
we  had  no  more  bad  weather.  Whilst  the  storm  lasted,  a 
number  of  flying  fish  fell  upon  the  deck  of  the  schooner, 
which  the  sailors  secured,  and  we  found  them  to  be  an  agree- 
able addition  to  our  ordinary  fare  of  sea  biscuit  and  "salt 
junk."  They  are  a  delicate  little  fish,  from  six  to  eight 
inches  in  length  with  two  long  fins  resembling  wings  project- 
ing irom  the  upper  portion  of  the  body.  When  chased  by  the 
dolphin  or  other  large  fish,  they  may  be  seen  rising  in 
schools  from  the  tops  of  the  waves,  and  flying  forty  or  fifty 
yards  in  the  direction  of  the  wind;  then  dipping  again  into 
the  crests  of  tbe  billows,  from  which  they  quickly  rise  for  an- 
other flight,  should  their  enemies  still  continue  to  pursue 
them.  Their  flight  rarely  exceeds  forty  or  fifty  yards,  for  the 
reason  that  their  fins  cannot  serve  the  purpose  of  wings  un- 
less frequently  moistened  by  contact  with  the  water. 

On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  after  leaving  South- 
west Pass,  the  shores  of  Texas  were  dimly  discernible  frorc 
the  masthead,  looking  like  a  long  low  cloud  on  the  western 
horizon.  The  wind  was  "dead  ahead"  and  we  were  nearly 
the  whole  day  beating  up  within  sight  of  the  beach  and  the 
few  miserable  little  shanties  that  then  constituted  the  city  of 
Velasco.  Finding  it  was  impossible  to  cross  the  bar  with  the 
wind  ahead,  we  cast  anchor  in  the  roadstead,  hoping  it  would 
be  more  favorable  the  next  day.  But  the  next  morning  it 
was  still  from  the  same  quarter,  and  tired  out  with  our  con- 
finement on  board  of  the  vessel  a  dozen  of  us  manned  the 
long  boat,  resolved  to  make  a  landing  in  spite  of  "wind  and 
weather."  But  in  this  we  "reckoned  without  our  host,"  for 
we  missed  the  channel,  got  into  the  breakers  which  came  very 
near  swamping  our  boat,  and  we  were  glad  to  make  our  es- 
cape from  them  back  to  the  schooner  again.  Two  years  sub- 
sequently I  saw  a  boat  capsize  amongst  those  same  breakers, 
and  although  in  full  view  of  many  people  on  shore,  everyone 


n 


on  board  of  her  was  drowned  before  any  assistance  could  be 
given  them. 

Not  long  after  our  return  to  the  schooner,  to  our  great  joy 
the  wind  hauled  around  to  the  east,  which  enabled  us  to 
cross  the  bar,  and  soon  we  were  safely  anchored  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Brazos  river.  The  country  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Velasco  is  low,  and  back  of.it  a  dead  level  prairie  extend- 
ed as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  ;  consequently  I  must  con- 
fess I  was  not  much  pleased  with  the  first  view  of  the  "prom- 
ised land."  Velasco  was  a  miserable  little  village  consist- 
ing of  two  stores  and  a  hotel,  so  called,  and  five  or  six  grog 
shops,  dignified  with  the  name  ofsaloons."  Opposite  to  it, 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  river  was  the  rival  city  of  Quintana, 
containing  about  the  same  number  of  shanties  and  a  mixed 
population  of  Yankees,  Mexicans  and  Indians. 

We  landed  upon  the  Quintana  side  and  pitched  our  camp 
upon  the  beach,  adjoining  the  camps  of  several  other  com- 
panies that  had  arrived  a  few  days  previously.  Here  we  re- 
mained two  weeks  or  more,  and  as  we  were  liberally  supplied 
with  rations  by  the  patriotic  firm  of  McKinney  &  Williams, 
and  game  and  fish  were  to  be  had  in  abundance,  we 
"fared  sumptuously"  every  day.  In  hunting  and  fishing, 
making  tents,  cleaning  our  guns,  and  preparing  in  other  ways 
for  our  anticipated  campaign,  our  time  passed  pleasantly 
enough. 

Whilst  at  this  place  our  company  was  formally  mustered 
into  service  of  the  embryo  Republic  of  Texas.  It  was  left 
optional  with  us  to  enlist  for  twelve  months  or  for  "during 
the  war,"  and  we  unanimously  chose  the  latter  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  "in  for  a  penny,  in  for  a  pound,"  or  as  Davy  Crockett 
would  have  said,  we  resolved  to  "go  the  whole  hog  or  none." 

One  day  whilst  we  were  encamped  at  Quintana  we  had 
quite  an  exciting  scene,  which  bade  fair  for  a  time  to  initiate 
us  into  the  realities  of  actual  warfare.  Two  vessels  were  seen 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  21 

in  the  offing,  one  of  them  evidently  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  other. 
As  soon  as  they  had  approached  near  enough  to  be  distinctly 
seen  through  a  glass,  it  was  asserted  by  several  who  claimed 
to  know,  that  the  smaller  vessel  was  the  Invincible,  a 
schooner  recently  purchased  by  Texas,  and  the  larger  one  in 
pursuit  was  the  Bravo,  a  noted  Mexican  privateer.  In  this 
opinion  we  were  confirmed,  as  a  sharp  cannonading  began 
between  the  two  vessels.  Our  company  was  at  once  ordered 
on  board  of  a  small  steamer  lying  in  the  mouth  of  the  Brazos, 
with  instructions  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  the  Invinci- 
ble with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  We  quickly  got  up  steam, 
and  notwithstanding  the  violence  of  the  breakers  on  the  bar, 
which  on  two  occasions  broke  entirely  over  our  little  steamer, 
we  were  soon  alongside  of  the  foremost  vessel,  which  proved 
to  be  as  we  had  supposed,  the  Texas  schooner,  Invincible. 
By  this  time  the  other  vessel  had  approached  near  enough  to 
be  recognized  as  the  Brutus,  lately  purchased  also  for  the 
Texas  navy,  and  after  the  interchange  of  some  signals  the 
firing  ceased.  Each  vessel,  it  seems,  had  mistaken  the  other 
for  the  Bravo,  and  hence  the  pursuit  of  the  Brutus,  and  the 
attempt  of  the  Invincible  to  escape,  as  she  had  only  a  sailing 
crew  on  board;  and  we  were  compelled  to  return  to  camp 
without  having  had  an  opportunity  of  "fleshing  our  maiden 
swords." 

A  few  days  afterwards,  our  company  was  ordered  to  take 
up  our  quarters  on  board  the  Invincible,  to  serve  as  a  kind 
of  marine  corps  for  her  protection  until  a  regular  crew  could 
be  enlisted.  Whilst  on  board  of  her,  in  the  hope  of  meeting 
the  Bravo,  we  took  a  cruise  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the  east 
end  of  Galveston  island.  Here  an  incident  occurred,  which 
as  being  indicative  of  the  great  changes  that  have  taken 
place  since  the  times  of  which  I  write,  may  be  worth  men- 
tioning. We  were  lying  at  anchor  off  the  point  of  the  isl- 
and, and  as  we  were  running  short  of  wood  and  water,  a  boat 


was  sent  ashore  for  a  supply.  The  former  could  be  had  in 
any  quantity  along  the  beach,  and  the  latter,  though  slightly 
brackish,  by  digging  shallow  wells  at  the  base  of  the  sand 
hills.  When  the  boat  was  ready  to  return,  it  was  found  that 
one  of  the  crew,  who  had  wandered  off  from  the  well  whilst 
the  others  were  filling  the  casks,  was  missing.  Search  was 
made  for  him,  but  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  as  there 
was  every  appearance  of  a  "norther"  coming  up,  the  officer 
in  command  of  the  boat  thought  it  most  prudent  to  hasten 
back  to  the  vessel,  leaving  the  missing  man  on  the  island.  In 
a  few  minutes  after  the  boat  reached  the  vessel  the  norther 
struck  us,  and  we  were  compelled  to  hoist  anchor  and  run 
before  it. 

Three  days  elapsed  in  beating  back  to  our  anchorage,  and 
a  boat  was  immediately  sent  ashore  with  a  crew  of  half  a 
dozen  men,  to  look  for  our  lost  comrade.  At  length  he  was 
found,  five  or  six  miles  below  the  place  where  he  had  been 
left,  wandering  on  the  beach,  searching  for  oysters  and  clams, 
upon  which  he  had  subsisted  since  leaving  the  vessel.  His 
mind  was  considerably  affected  by  exposure  to  the  norther, 
his  fear  of  wild  beasts  and  savages,  and  the  apprehension  of 
our  failing  to  return.  For  several  days  he  talked  in  a  wild 
and  incoherent  manner,  and  he  did  not  entirely  regain  his 
mind  for  two  or  three  weeks.  For  three  days  this  man  had 
wandered  about  the  island  without  seeing  a  living  soul,  and 
yet  it  is  probable  he  was  at  no  time  more  than  four  or  five 
miles  from  where  Galveston,  a  city  of  forty  thousand  inhab- 
itants, now  stands! 

After  an  unsuccessful  cruise  in  search  of  the  Bravo,  we  re- 
turned to  Quintana,  and  pitched  our  tents  again  upon  our 
old  camping  ground. 


CHAPTER  III. 

LEAVE  FOR  COPANO — LAND  AT  MATAGORDA  ISLAND — RENDEZ 
vous  OF  LAFITTE  THE  PIRATE — ARRIVE  AT  COPANO — TEXAS 
RANGERS — MARCH  TO  REFUGIO — OLD  CHURCH  AT  REFUGIO 
— PRIMITIVE  METHOD  OF  SKIMMING  MILK — MARCH  TO  Go- 
LIAD  —  CARANCHUA  INDIANS — DEER  —  WILD  HORSES  — 
NORTHERS — ARRIVAL  AT  GOLIAD. 

A  day  or  so  after  our  return  to  Quintana,  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  Invincible  was  instructed  to  take  our  com- 
pany on  board  and  to  sail  immediately  for  Copano,  on  Aran- 
sas  bay,  where  we  were  to  disembark  and  march  from  thence 
to  Goliad.  It  was  rumored  that  a  considerable  force  had 
already  been  concentrated  at  that  point,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  J.  W.  Fannin,  destined  for  the  invasion  of  the  border 
States  of  Mexico,  and  of  course  we  surmised  that  our  com- 
pany would  form  a  part  of  the  invading  army. 

We  set  sail  about  dark,  and  a  brisk  norther  springing  up, 
by  daylight  the  next  morning  we  were  in  sight  of  Aransas 
Pass,  which  we  shortly  entered  without  difficulty,  and  cast 
anchor  in  a  secure  harbor  behind  the  southwest  point  of 
Matagorda  island.  This  harbor  had  been,  in  times  past,  a 
rendezvous  for  the  vessels  of  the  famous  pirate,  Lafitte.  On 
the  island  the  embankments  around  his  old  camping  grounds 
or  fortifications  were  still  visible,  and  along  the  beach  were 
many  posts  yet  standing  with  iron  rings  affixed  to  them, 
which  undoubtedly  had  been  used  for  securing  the  small 
boats  that  plied  between  the  vessels  and  the  shore.  "The 
pass"  was  known  then  only  to  Lafitte  and  his  followers,  and 
here  in  security  they  could  repair  their  vessels,  supply  them 
with  wood  and  water,  and  divide  among  themselves  the  spoils 


AV/r///   YYwrx  ///    7V. 


of  their  piratical  expeditions.  On  the  east  end  of  Galveston 
island  they  had  a  similar  place  of  rendezvous,  near  where  the 
city  now  stands,  and  the  remains  of  their  fortifications  could 
be  plainly  seen  when  I  first  landed  on  the  island,  in  1837. 
A  few  years  ago,  while  excavating  sand  near  these  old  forti- 
fications, some  workmen  found  a  considerable  amount  of  old 
Spanish  coin,  buried  there  no  doubt,  by  some  pirate  on  the 
eve  of  his  departure  upon  some  marauding  expedition,  from 
which  probably  he  never  returned. 

We  remained  on  the  island  several  days,  passing  the  time 
very  pleasantly  hunting  and  fishing,  and  gathering  oysters* 
which  were  abundant  in  the  bay,  and  then  we  embarked  on 
board  of  a  small  vessel  for  Copano,  which  at  that  time  was 
the  principal  port  of  Southwest  Texas.  In  a  few  hours  we 
reached  the  pert,  and  landing,  we  pitched  our  tents  on  the 
bluff  just  back  of  it.  Here  we  found  a  company  of  Texas 
Rangers  who  had  been  on  frontier  service  for  six  months, 
during  all  of  which  time  they  had  not  seen  a  morsel  of  bread. 
They  had  subsisted  solely  upon  beef  and  the  game  they 
killed.  We  gave  them  a  part  of  the  "hard  tack"  we  had 
brought  with  us,  and  though  wormeaten  and  musty,  they  de- 
voured it  with  as  keen  a  relish  as  if  it  had  been  the  greatest 
delicacy.  Although  they  had  had  no  bread  for  so  long  a 
time,  they  were  healthy  and  in  "good  order,"  which  con- 
vinces me  that  Byron  was  right  in  saying  that  man  was  a 
carniverous  animal,  and  would  bear  vegetables  ''only  in  a 
grumbling  way"  —  especially  beans. 

From  Copano  (which  consisted  mainly  of  a  warehouse 
and  a  large  tank  of  fresh  water)  we  took  up  the  line  of  march 
lor  Refugio,  distant  about  twenty  miles.  It  is  situated  on  a 
little  stream  called  Mission  river,  near  the  bank  of  which  we 
pitched  our  tents,  just  before  sunset.  Refugio  at  that  time 
contained  about  two  dozen  adobe  huts  (inhabited  by  a  mixed 
population  of  Irish  and  Mexicans),  and  an  old,  dilapidated 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  25 

church,  built,  I  was  told,  the  same  year  that  Philadelphia  was 
founded.  A  few  months  subsequently  Refugio  was  the  scene 
of  a  hard  fought  battle  between  thirty-five  Americans  under 
Capt.  King,  and  a  large  body  of  Mexican  cavalry. 

The  old  church,  where  King  and  his  men  defended  them- 
selves for  some  time  against  a  host  of  Mexicans,  when  I  last 
saw  it,  still  showed  evidence  of  the  severity  of  the  conflict  in 
its  battered  walls  and  its  roof  perforated  with  shot  from  the 
Mexican  artilery. 

Observing  a  number  of  fat  cows  in  the  vicinity  of  the  vil- 
lage, I  concluded  to  go  out  and  forage  for  a  little  of  the  "lac- 
teal fluid,"  of  which  we  had  not  had  a  drop  since  leaving 
Kentucky.  So  taking  a  camp  kettle  in  my  hand  I  went  to 
the  nearest  house  and  inquired  of  a  woman  standing  at  the 
door,  if  she  had  any  milk  for  sale.  "  Faith,  and  I  have," 
said  she,  "any  kind  you  may  want,  swate  milk,  butter  milk, 
clabber  milk  and  blue  Johns."  I  told  her  I  would  take  some 
of  the  "swate,"  whereupon  she  led  me  to  a  small  out-house, 
in  which  were  a  number  of  pans  filled  with  milk.  Selecting 
one  containing  the  "swate,"  she  rolled  up  her  sleeve  and  de- 
liberately proceeded  to  skim  it  with  her  open  hand,  which 
looked  to  me  to  have  been  unacquainted  with  soap  and  water 
for  some  time  past.  When  she  had  finished  skimming  the 
milk  in  this  primitive  fashion,  she  poured  the  contents  of  the 
pan  into  my  camp  kettle,  at  the  same  time  saying  :  "  There, 
my  little  mon,  there's  a  pan  of  milk  for  yez  that's  fit  for  the 
Pope  of  Room,  Heaven  protect  His  Holiness."  I  said  noth- 
ing, though  like  the  owl  I  did  a  good  deal  of  thinking,  paid 
for  the  milk  and  returned  to  camp,  where  my  hungry  mess- 
mates speedily  emptied  the  kettle,  wondering  that  I  took  cof- 
fee in  preference  to  such  nice  new  milk.  I  told  them  of  the 
skimming  process  I  had  witnessed,  but  men  in  camp  are  not 
usually  very  "squeamish,"  and  they  merely  said  "  that  what 
would  not  poison  would  fatten;"  that  they  had  to  "  eat  their 

2 


/v //•///  Tiinrx  in  Texas. 

peck  of  dirt  anyhow,"  and  the  sooner  they  got  through  with 
the  job  the  better. 

The  next  morning  we  continued  our  march  for  Goliad, 
about  thirty  miles  distant,  but  as  we  got  a  late  start,  we  only 
made  twenty  miles  or  so  by  sunset,  and  pitched  our  camp 
near  a  pool  of  fresh  water,  under  the  shelter  of  some  spread- 
ing live  oak  trees.  Here  we  found  encamped  a  band  of  the 
Caranchua  tribe  of  Indian?,  at  that  time  professing  to  be 
friendly  to  the  Americans.  We  were  told  that  these  Indians 
were  cannibals,  that  they  always  devoured  the  prisoners  they 
took  in  their  conflicts  with  their  enemies.  They  were  the 
largest  Indians  I  have  ever  seen,  scarcely  a  man  among  them 
being  less  than  six  feet  high,  and  many  of  them  over  six  feet. 
The  men  were  entirely  naked,  saving  a  breech  cloth  fastened 
around  the  waist,  and  being  hideously  painted,  one  can  read- 
ily imagine  that  they  presented  a  most  ferocious  and  savage 
appearance.  Their  language  was  the  most  peculiar  jargon 
of  gutteral  sounds  I  ever  heard,  the  words  seeming  to  be 
articulated  by  some  spasmodic  action  of  the  throat  without 
any  aid  from  the  tongue  or  lips.  They  were  armed  with  long 
lances,  bows  and  arrows,  and  a  few  With  old  flint-lock  mus- 
kets. 

These  Indians  some  time  afterwards  captured  several 
Americans  and  killed  and  "barbecued"  them,  which  so  en- 
raged the  settlers  that  they  organized  an  expedition  against 
them  and  succeeded  in  exterminating  the  whole  tribe  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  remnant  that  fled  to  Mexico.  These 
Caranchuas,  I  believe,  were  the  only  Indians  known  to  be 
cannibals,  on  the  North  American  continent. 

Along  the  whole  route  from  Copano  to  where  we  were  en- 
camped, we  had  seen  great  numbers  of  deer,  sometimes  as 
many  as  two  or  three  hundred  in  a  drove,  and  so  unused  to 
being  hunted  or  disturbed  by  man,  that  even  when  we  ap- 
proached within  a  few  yards  of  them  they  showed  no  signs 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  27 

of  fear.  Of  course  we  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  fresh  meat 
whenever  we  wanted  it.  Once,  too,  at  the  distance  of  half  a 
mile  we  saw  a  large  drove  of  mustangs,  but  they  were  much 
wilder  than  the  deer,  for  when  several  of  us  attempted  to  ap- 
proach them,  they  circled  around  us  out  of  range  of  our  rifles, 
every  now  and  then  stopping  a  moment,  stamping  and  snort- 
ing, until  at  last  one  of  them  that  seemed  to  be  the  leader  of 
the  drove,  started  off  at  full  speed,  and  the  rest  following,  in 
a  short  time  nothing  but  a  cloud  of  dust  indicated  the  direc- 
tion they  had  taken.  Some  years  subsequent  to  this,  a  com- 
pany of  rangers  to  which  I  belonged,  when  in  pursuit  of  Indi- 
ans in  the  country  between  the  Nueces  and  Rio  Grande  rivers, 
met  with  a  drove  of  mustangs  so  large  that  it  took  us  fully  an 
hour  to  pass  it,  although  they  were  traveling  at  a  rapid  rate 
in  a  direction  nearly  opposite  to  the  one  we  were  going.  As  far 
as  the  eye  could  extend  on  a  dead  level  prairie,  nothing  was 
visible  except  a  dense  mass  of  horses,  and  the  trampling  of 
their  hoofs  sounded  like  the  roar  of  the  surf  on  a  rocky  coast. 
Most  persons  probably  would  be  inclined  to  doubt  this 
'•horse  story,"  and  to  consider  it  one  to  be  told  to  the  "horse 
marines"  alone  ;  yet  it  is  literally  true,  and  many  are  still 
living  who  were  with  me  at  the  time,  who  can  testify  that  my 
statement  is  in  no  manner  exaggerated. 

During  the  night  a  norther  came  up,  but  as  we  were  well 
protected  by  thick  timber,  which  afforded  plenty  of  fuel  for 
our  fires,  we  managed  to  keep  pretty  comfortable.  These 
"northers,"  as  they  are  called  in  Texas,  are  winds  that  spring 
up  suddenly  from  the  North,  during  the  winter  season,  some- 
times "dry,"  at  other  times  accompanied  with  rain  or  sleet. 
At  first  they  blow  with  considerable  violence,  but  gradually 
subside  in  the  course  of  one,  two  or  three  days,  and  are  fol- 
lowed usually  by  a  week  or  so  of  clear,  pleasant  weather. 
To  travelers  unprepared  for  them  they  are  very  disagreeable 
visitants,  and  instances  have  been  known  of  persons  freezing 


Early  Times  in  Texas. 

to  death  in  them  when  caught  out  in  the  open  prairies  where 
there  was  no  shelter  from  the  wind  nor  means  of  making  a 
fire. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  took  the  road  for  Goliad  again, 
and  in  -the  course  of  three  or  four  hours  we  came  in  sight  of 
the  dome  of  the  old  Mission.  Not  long  afterwards  we  entered 
the  town  and  took  up  our  quarters  in  an  empty  stone  build- 
ing near  the  old  church.  Here  we  found  about  four  hun- 
dred men  under  the  command  of  Colonel  J.  W.  Fannin,  the 
force  with  which  it  was  designed  to  invade  the  border  States 
of  Mexico. 


OHAPTEE  IV. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  GOLIAD — DAILY  DRILLS  AND  "DRESS  PAR- 
ADES"— OUR  COMPANY  CALLED  THE  "MUSTANGS,"  AND 
THE  REASON  WHY!  —  MARCH  TO  SAN  PATRICIO  —  CAR- 
LO'S RANCH  —  CAPTURE  OF  THE  REV.  PADRE  AND  HIS 
COURIERS — AN  ALARM  THAT  ENDED  VERY  PLEASANTLY — 
INDEBTED  TO  THE  REV.  PADRE  FOR  A  "GooD  SQUARE 
MEAL" — TIRED  OF  TRAMPING  THE  BOYS  MOUNT  MUSTANGS 
BUT  DISMOUNT  VERY  EXPEDITIOUSLY — RETURN  ON  FOOT  TO 
GOLIAD. 

Goliad,  at  the  time  we  arrived  there,  contained  a  popula- 
tion of  about  two  thousand  Mexicans  who  were  professedly 
friendly  to  the  Texans,  but  who  afterwards,  when  Santa  Anna 
invaded  the  country,  proved  to  be  their  most  vindictive  foes. 
I  must,  however,  make  an  exception  in  favor  of  the  "Senor- 
itas,"who  generally  preferred  the  blue-eyed,  fair  complexioned 
young  Saxons  to  their  copper-colored  beaux. 

Goliad  is  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  San  Antonio 
river,  about  forty  miles  above  its  mouth,  and  ninety-five  miles 
below  the  city  of  San  Antonio.  The  American  town  of  Go- 
liad, built  up  since  the  war,  is  situated  nearly  opposite  the 
old  town,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  After  the  defeat  of 
Santa  Anna,  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  old 
town  abandoned  the  place  and  went  to  Mexico.  When  I  last 
saw  it,  in  1877,  its  population  had  dwindled  down  to  one  or  two 
hundred  miserable  "peons"  and  most  of  the  "jacals"  or 
huts  were  gone.  The  Old  Mission,  with  its  dilapidated  walls, 
half  a  dozen  stone  tenements  and  a  few  adobe  houses  alone 
remained  to  designate  the  spot  where  once  had  stood  the  old 
town  of  Goliad. 


:nt  Early  Times  iu  Texas. 

The  lands  around  the  place  are  rich  and  productive,  and 
the  locality  (though  we  did  not  find  it  so)  is  a  healthy  one. 
Thousands  of  fat  beeves  roamed  the  prairies  in  its  vicinityj 
and  as  corn  could  be  had  in  abundance  upon  the  neighbor- 
ing ranches,  we  were  well  supplied  with  provisions.  Besides, 
when  theTexans  took  possession  of  the  place,  several  months 
previous  to  our  arrival,  a  large  amount  of  sugar  and  coffee 
was  found  in  the  Mexican  commissary  department,  which,  of 
course,  we  did  not  scruple  to  appropriate  to  our  own  use. 

In  order  to  render  his  little  force  as  effective  as  possible, 
when  the  time  for  action  should  come,  Colonel  Fannin  or- 
dered daily  drills,  which  were  my  detestation  and  from  which 
I  invariably  absented  myself  whenever  I  had  a  pretext  for 
doing  so.  I  greatly  preferred  hunting  deer  in  the  prairies 
and  attending  the  "fandangos"  or  dances  that  took  place 
daily  and  nightly  in  one  part  of  the  town  or  the  other. 

Not  long  after  our  arrival  at  Goliad  the  soubriquet  of  Mus- 
tangs or  Wild  Horses  was  acquired  by  our  company  from  the 
following  incident:  M — .,  our  second  lieutenant,  was  a  man 
of  great  physical  powers,  but  withal  one  of  the  most  peace- 
ful and  most  genial  men  when  not  under  the  influence  of 
liquor.  But  occasionally  he  would  get  on  a  "spree"  and  then 
he  was  as  wild  as  a  "March  hare"  and  perfectly  uncontroll- 
able. The  Mexicans  seemed  to  know  him  and  to  fear  him, 
also,  and  when  he  was  on  one  of  his  "benders"  they  would 
retreat  into  their  houses  as  soon  as  they  saw  him  and  shut 
their  doors.  This  proceeding,  of  course,  was  calculated  to 
irritate  M— .,  and  he  would  forthwith  kick  the  door  from  its 
hinges.  On  a  certain  occasion  he  battered  down  the  doors 
of  half  a  dozen  houses  in  one  street,  and  from  that  time  the 
Mexicans  called  him  the  "Mustang,"  and  finally  the  name 
was  applied  to  the  company. 

But  few  events  occurred  to  vary  the  daily  routine  of  our 
life  at  Goliad.  The  following,  however,  I  will  mention:  Our 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  31 

company  was  detailed  on  one  occasion  to  go  to  San  Patricio, 
an  Irish  settlement  about  fifty  miles  southwest  from  Goliad, 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  couple  of  field  pieces  left  there 
by  the  Mexicans.  This  we  accomplished  without  difficulty, 
and  without  any  opposition,  although  our  scouts  had  in- 
formed Colonel  Fannin  that  a  considerable  force  of  Mexican 
guerillas  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place. 

On  another  occasion  our  company  was  detailed  to  march 
to  Carlos  Ranch,  a  Mexican  village  about  twenty  miles  below 
Goliad,  with  instructions  to  arrest  certain  of  the  inhabitants, 
who,  it  was  ascertained,  were  constantly  transmitting  intel- 
ligence of  our  movements  to  Santa  Anna,  and  among  the  num- 
ber was  the  old  padre  or  priest  of  the  village.  In  order  that 
the  Mexicans  might  not  suspect  our  object  and  frustrate  our 
plans  by  giving  the  padre  and  his  friends  timely  warning  of 
our  intentions,  we  left  the  town  quietly  after  dark  in  the  op- 
posite direction  to  the  one  we  designed  taking.  When  safe 
beyond  observation,  we  turned  our  course  down  the  river, 
and  making  a  forced  march,  we  reached  the  village  a  little 
before  daylight  and  surrounded  it  without  alarming  any  of  the 
inhabitants.  A  detachment  then  entered  the  padre's  house, 
and  caught  the  bird  in  his  nest,  together  with  five  or  six 
other  suspicious  characters  (supposed  to  be  his  couriers,  as 
in  fact  they  were),  and  the  whole  of  them  were  "bagged" 
without  alarming  any  of  the  people  in  the  village.  Having 
thus  accomplished  our  object  we  marched  to  a  point  on  the 
river  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above,  where  we  halted  in  a 
grove  to  rest  and  prepare  something  for  breakfast.  Placing 
a  guard  over  the  padre  and  his  couriers,  we  stacked  our 
guns  and  soon  every  one  was  busily  engaged  in  cooking 
such  "grub"  as  we  had  in  ouv  knapsacks.  By  this  time  the 
sun  had  risen,  and  we  were  just  seating  ourselves  on  the  grass 
around  the  scanty  fare  we  had  prepared  for  our  breakfast 
(consisting  of  hard  tack,  jerked  beef  and  the  inevitable  cof- 


Thin'*  In   Texas. 

fee),  when  our  attention  was  drawn  to  shrieks  and  doleful 
cries  in  the  direction  of  the  village,  and  seeing  a  crowd  of 
people  coming  from  it  towards  us,  we  hastily  sprang  to  our 
guns,  thinking  the  Mexicans  were  about  to  make  an  attempt 
to  rescue  the  prisoners,  but  as  the  crowd  drew  nearer,  we 
saw  that  it  was  composed  mostly  of  women  and  children.  It 
seems  that  they  had  just  found  out  we  had  captured  their 
Reverend  padre,  and  they  were  coming  to  bid  him  farewell 
and  obtain  his  parting  blessing. 

I  had  heard  that  the  Mexicans  were  completely  under  the 
control  of  their  priests,  but  I  had  but  a  faint  conception  of 
the  fact  until  I  witnessed  the  scene  that  ensued.  As  the 
came  up  the  women  knelt  at  his  feet,  weeping  and  mourning, 
and  kissed  his  hand  and  even  the  hem  of  his  priestly  robes. 
Presently  another  crowd  of  women  came  from  the  village, 
bringing  with  them  plates  filled  with  hot  "tortillas,"  pots  of 
coffee,  "dulces,"  etc.,  intended  for  the  padre's  breakfast,  and 
that  of  the  other  prisoners,  and  when  they  deposited  them  on 
the  grass  before  them  we  took  possession  of  them  as  the 
"legitimate  spoils  of  war"  and  found  they  were  much  better 
than  our  course  of  hard  tack  and  dried  beef.  Such  conduct 
on  our  part,  1  admit,  bordered  closely  on  the  "sacrilegious,'" 
but  then  you  must  remember  we  had  been  marching  all  night 
and  of  course  were  very  hungry — and  as  the  Mexicans  said 
themselves,  "what  better  could  you  expect  from  'Gringos' 
and  heretics!  " 

Seeing  that  the  Rev.  padre  would  have  but  little  chance  to 
get  his  breakfast  until  we  had  ours,  the  women  continued  to 
bring  in  fresh  supplies  of  eatables  as  fast  as  we  disposed  of 
them.  Finally  however,  when  our  hunger  was  appeased,  the 
Rev.  padre  and  his  couriers  had  a  show  at  what  was  left. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  place  where  we  had  halted,  we  noticed 
a  large  "  corral  "  in  which  several  hundred  head  of  mustangs 
were  penned.  We  were  all  tired  of  "  trudging  "  on  foot,  and 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  33 

concluded  we  would  "press"  into  the  service  (a  military 
term  for  appropriating  property  belonging  to  others)  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  these  mustangs  to  mount  the  whole  company. 
Accordingly  we  compelled  the  Mexicans  to  rope  and  equip 
with  saddles  and  bridles  about  fifty  of  them.  We  were  all  I 
suppose  pretty  good  horsemen,  as  the  term  is  understood  in 
the  "old  States,"  but  we  knew  that  these  mustangs  were  only 
partially  broken  to  the  saddle, 'and  we  anticipated  having 
some  "fun  "  when  we  mounted  them — though  nothing  like  as 
much  as  we  really  got,  for  at  the  time,  we  were  totally  ignor- 
ant of  that  peculiar  trick  of  mustangs  called  "  pitching,  "  by 
which  they  manage  almost  invariably  to  get  rid  of  a  "green" 
rider.  When  the  mustangs  with  considerable  difficulty,  after 
roping  them  closely  to  trees,  had  all  been  saddled  and  bridled, 
at  the  word  of  command,  we  mounted  (except  five  or  six  who 
failed  to  do  so)  and  the  next  instant  a  scene  of  horses  kicking, 
reai  ing  and  plunging  ensued,  of  which  only  a  confused  recol- 
lection remained  upon  my  mind,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes 
me  to  tell  of  it,  we  were  all  put  "  hors  de  combat,  "  (no  pun 
intended.) 

As  for  the  part  I  took  individually  in  this  equestrian  per- 
formance, I  have  only  to  say  that  I  had  hardly  seated  myself 
in  the  saddle,  when  my  unruly  steed  humped  his  back  like  a 
mad  cat,  reared  up,  and  then  came  down  on  his  stiffened  fore 
legs  with  such  force,  that  if  "  next  week  "  had  been  lying  on 
the  ground  ten  or  fifteen  feet  ahead  of  me,  I  would  certainly 
have  knocked  out  the  middle.  I  was  partially  stunned  by  the 
fall  but  soon  rose  to  my  feet,  and  was  much  relieved  and  con- 
soled looking  round,  to  find  that  all  the  rest  had  been  served 
in  the  same  way,  except  one  rider  who  managed  to  stick  upon 
his  horse  in  spite  of  all  the  animal's  efforts  to  get  rid  of  him- 
The  Mexicans  no  doubt  had  purposely  selected  the  wildest 
horses  in  the  corral,  and  it  is  probable  the  most  of  them  had 
never  been  backed  half  a  dozen  times  even  by  the  rancheros 


Early  Times  in  Texas. 

themselves,  who  are  unsurpassed  by  any  people  in  horseman- 
ship. I  am  confident  that  the  padre  and  his  flock  enjoyed 
this  equestrian  performance  much  more  than  the  actors,  but 
as  heretofore  the  laugh  had  been  all  on  our  side,  we  did  not 
blame  them  for  the  pleasure  they  took  in  our  discomfiture. 
However,  we  concluded  to  dispense  with  our  unmanageable 
steeds,  "  unpressed  "  them  by  restoring  them  to  their  lawful 
owners,  and  resulted  our  march  on  foot  for  Goliad.  The 
Mexican  padre  was  sent  to  San  Felipe  on  the  Brazos,  where 
he  was  securely  caged  until  Santa  Anna  and  his  army  were 
defeated  and  driven  from  Texas.  He  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  great  scoundrel  and  an  inveterate  gambler,  and  his 
sinister  countenance  did  not  belie  "  the  soft  impeachment.  " 
I  will  do  him  the  justice  however,  to  say  that  we  were  indebted 
to  him  for  the  best  breakfast  we  had  eaten  since  landing  in 
Texas.  Peace  to  his  ashes. 


CHAPTEK  V. 

RUMORS  OF  THE  ADVANCE  OF  GEN.  SANTA  ANNA — INTENDED 
INVASION  OF  MEXICO  ABANDONED — PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE 
DEFENSE  OF  GOLIAD  —  SANTA  ANNA  CROSSES  THE  Rio 
GRANDE — MASSACRE  OF  CAPT.  GRANT  AND  HIS  MEN  AT  SAN 
PATRICIO — CAPT.  KING  WITH  THIRTY-FIVE  MEN  SENT  TO 
REFUGIO — BATTLE  AT  REFUGIO  AND  MASSACRE  OF  CAPT. 
KING  AND  HIS  MEN — DlSPATCH  FROM  GENERAL  HOUSTON 
— GEORGIA  BATTALION  UNDER  MAJOR  WARD  SENT  TO  THE 
ASSISTANCE  OF  CAPT.  KING — CAPTURE  OF  THE  GEORGIA 
BATTALION — COL.  FANNIN  DETERMINES  TO  RETREAT — PRE- 
PARATIONS FOR  RETREATING — THE  RETREAT  AND  FATAL 
"  HALT  "  IN  THE  PRAIRIE. 

Some  time  after  our  arrival  at  Goliad,  information  was  ob- 
tained from  some  friendly  Mexicans  that  General  Santa  Anna 
was  preparing  to  enter  Texas  at  the  head  of  a  large  army; 
consequently  all  idea  of  invading  Mexico,  was  abandoned* 
and  we  set  to  work  to  render  the  fortifications  around  the  old 
missions  as  defensible  as  possible.  We  strengthened  the 
walls  in  mBny  places,  built  several  new  bastions  on  which 
artillery  was  placed  in  such  a  way  as  to  command  all  the 
roads  leading  into  the  town. 

Every  day  we  were  drilled  by  our  officers  for  three  hours 
in  the  morning  and  two  in  the  afternoon,  which,  as  I  have 
said  before  was  a  great  bore  to  me,  as  I  would  have  preferred 
passing  the  time  in  hunting  and  fishing.  We  also  deepened 
the  trenches  around  the  walls,  and  dug  a  ditch  from  the  fort 
to  the  river,  and  covered  it  with  plank  and  earth,  so  that  we 
might  obtain  a  supply  of  water,  if  besieged,  without  being 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  We  were  well  supplied 


;r,  tiarly  Times  in  Texas. 

\ 

with  artillery  and  ammunition  for  the  same,  and  also  with  small 
arms,  and  had  beef,  sugar  and  coffee  enough  to  last  us  for 
two  months — but  very  little  bread. 

Some  time  in  February,  a  Mexican  from  the  Rio  Grande 
arrived  at  Goliad  who  informed  Col.  Fannin  that  Santa  Anna 
had  already  or  would  shortly  cross  the  river  into  Texas  with 
a  large  army  which  would  advance  in  two  divisions,  one  to- 
wards Goliad  and  the  other  towards  the  city  of  San  Antonio. 
Some  days  afterwards,  two  or  three  Texans  came  in  from  San 
Patricio,  bringing  the  news  that  Capt.  Grant  and  some  twen- 
ty-five or  thirty  men  stationed  at  that  place,  had  been  sur- 
prised by  a  force  of  Mexican  guerillas  and  all  of  them 
massacred.  About  this  time  also  a  courier  from  Refugio 
came  in  who  stated  to  Col.  Fannin  that  he  had  been  sent  by 
the  people  of  that  place,  to  ask  for  a  detachment  of  men  to 
escort  them  to  Goliad,  as  they  were  daily  expecting  an  attack 
from  the  guerillas. 

In  compliance  with  this  request,  Col.  Fannin  sent  Capt. 
King  and  his  company  (about  thirty-five  men)  to  act  as  escort 
for  those  families  who  desired  to  leave.  When  Capt.  King 
and  his  men  reached  Refugio,  they  were  attacked  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town  by  a  large  force  of  Mexican  cavalry,  and  be- 
ing hard  pressed  they  retreated  into  the  old  mission,  a  strong 
stone  building,  at  that  time  encompassed  by  walls.  There 
they  defended  themselves  successfully,  and  kept  the  Mexicans 
at  bay  until  their  artillery  came  up,  when  they  opened  fire 
upon  it  with  two  field  pieces  which  soon  breached  the  walls, 
and  the  place  was  then  taken  by  storm.  Capt.  King  and  some 
seven  or  eight  of  his  men  (the  only  survivors  of  the  bloody 
conflict),  were  captured  and  led  out  to  a  post  oak  grove  north 
of  town,  where  they  were  tied  to  trees  and  shot.  Their  bones 
were  found  still  tied  to  the  trees,  when  the  Texan  forces  re- 
occupied  the  place  in  the  summer  of  '36. 

About  this    time  a  courier  arrived   bringing    a  dispatch 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  37 

from  Gen.  Houston  to  Col.  Fannin,  and  it  was  rumored  in 
camp  that  the  purport  of  this  dispatch  was  "that  Col.  Fannin 
should  evacuate  Goliad  and  fall  back  without  delay  towards 
the  settlements  on  the  Colorado."  But  as  to  the  truth  of  this 
I  cannot  speak  positively.  At  any  rate  Col.  Fannin  showed 
no  disposition  to  obey  the  order  if  he  received  it — on  the 
contrary,  hearing  nothing  from  Capt.  King,  although  he  had 
sent  out  three  scouts  at  different  times  to  obtain  information 
of  his  movements,  all  of  whom  were  captured  and  killed, 
he  despatched  Maj.  Ward  with  the  Georgia  Battalion  (about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  strong)  to  his  assistance.  They  were 
attacked  before  they  reached  Refugio  by  a  large  force  of 
Mexican  cavalry.  They  made  a  gallant  defense  for  some 
time  against  the  vastly  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy,  but 
at  length  their  ammunition  was  exhausted  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  retreat  to  the  timber  on  the  river,  where  they  were 
surrounded  by  the  Mexican  cavalry,  and  most  of  them  finally 
captured. 

This  division  of  our  small  force  in  the  face  of  an  enemy  so 
greatly  our  superior  in  numbers,  was,  in  my  opinion,  a  fatal 
error  on  the  part  of  Col.  Fannin. 

Hearing  nothing  either  from  Capt.  King  or  Major  Ward, 
and  satisfied  from  information  obtained  by  our  scouts  that  a 
large  force  of  Mexicans  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Goliad,  Col. 
Fannin  and  his  officers  held  a  council  of  war  in  which  it  was 
determined  to  evacuate  the  place  and  fall  back  as  rapidly  as 
possible  towards  Victoria  on  the  Guadalupe  river.  The  same 
day,  I  believe,  or  the  next  after  this  council  of  war  was  held, 
a  courier  came  in  from  San  Antonio  bringing  a  dispatch,  as 
I  was  informed,  from  Col.  Travis,  to  the  effect  "that  he  was 
surrounded  in  the  Alamo  by  Santa  Anna's  army,  and  request- 
ing Col.  Fannin  to  come  to  his  relief  without  delay.'' 

Rations  for  five  days  and  as  much  ammunition  as  each  man 
could  conveniently  carry  were  immediately  issued,  and  our 


Kiii-ly  Thin'*  in  Texas. 


whole  force,  including  a  small  artillery  company  with  two  or 
three  field  pieces,  started  for  San  Antonio,  crossing  the  river 
at  the  ford  a  half  mile  or  so  above  town.  After  crossing  the 
river  and  marching  a  short  distance  on  the  San  Antonio  road, 
a  halt  was  made  and  our  officers  held  a  consultation,  the 
result  of  which  (I  suppose)  was  the  conclusion  that  we  could 
not  reach  San  Antonio  in  time  to  be  of  any  assistance  to  Col. 
Travis.  At  any  rate  we  were  marched  back  to  Goliad,  re- 
crossing  the  river  at  the  lower  ford. 

A  few  hours  after  we  had  got  back  to  our  old  quarters,  a 
detachment  of  Mexican  cavalry,  probably  eighty  or  a  hundred 
strong,  showed  themselves  at  a  short  distance  from  the  fort 
apparently  bantering  us  to  come  out  and  give  them  a  fight. 
Col.  Horton,  who  had  joined  us  a  few  days  previously  with 
twenty-five  mounted  men,  went  out  to  meet  them,  but  when 
he  charged  them  they  fled  precipitately,  and  we  saw  them  no 
more  that  day. 

That  evening  preparations  were  made  to  abandon  the  place; 
to  that  end  we  spiked  our  heaviest  pieces  of  artillery,  buried 
some  in  trenches,  reserving  several  field  pieces,  two  or  three 
howitzers  and  a  mortar  to  take  with  us  on  our  retreat.  We 
also  dismantled  the  fort  as  much  as  possible,  burnt  the  wooden 
buildings  in  its  immediate  vicinity  and  destroyed  all  the  am- 
munition and  provisions  for  which  we  had  no  means  of  trans- 
portation. 

The  next  morning  we  bade  a  final  farewell,  as  we  supposed, 
to  Goliad,  and  marched  out  on  the  road  to  Victoria.  We  had 
nine  small  pieces  of  ordnance  and  one  mortar,  all  drawn  by 
oxen  as  were  our  baggage  wagons.  Our  whole  force  com- 
prised about  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  besides  a  small  com- 
pany of  artillery  and  twenty-five  mounted  men  under  Col. 
Horton. 

We  crossed  the  San  Antonio  river  at  the  ford  below  town, 
and  a  short  distance  beyond  Menahecil.a  creek  we  entered 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  39 

the  large  prairie  extending  to  the  timber  on  the  Coletto,  a 
distance  of  eight  or  nine  miles.  When  we  had  .approached 
within  two  and  a  half  or  three  miles  of  the  point  where  the 
road  we  were  traveling  entered  the  timber  (though  it  was 
somewhat  nearer  to  the  left)  a  halt  was  ordered  and  the  oxen 
were  unyoked  from  guns  and  wagons,  and  turned  out  to  graze. 
What  induced  Col.  Fannin  to  halt  at  this  place  in  the  open 
prairie,  I  cannot  say,  for  by  going  two  and  a  half  miles  fur- 
ther, we  would  have  reached  the  Coletto  creek,  where  there 
was  an  abundance  of  water  and  where  we  would  have  had  the 
protection  of  timber  in  the  event  of  being  attacked.  I  under- 
stood at  the  time  that  several  of  Col.  Fannin's  officers  urged 
him  stiongly  to  continue  the  march  until  we  reached  the 
creek,  as  it  was  certain  that  a  large  body  of  Mexican  troops 
were  somewhere  in  the  vicinity;  but  however  this  may  be, 
Col.  Fannin  was  not  to  be  turned  from  his  purpose,  and  the 
halt  was  made.  Possibly  he  may  have  thought  that  two  hun- 
dred and  fitfy  well  armed  Americans  under  any  circumstances 
would  be  able  to  defend  themselves  against  any  force  the 
Mexicans  had  within  striking  distance,  but  as  the  sequel  will 
show  the  halt  at  this  place  was  a  most  fatal  one  for  us.  Up 
to  this  time  we  had  seen  no  Mexicans,  with  the  exception  of 
two  mounted  men,  who  made  their  appearance  from  some 
timber  a  long  way  to  our  right  and  who  no  doubt  were  spies 
watching  our  movements. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
\ 

MEXICAN  CAVALRY  SURROUND  us  ON  THE  PRAIRIE— COL.  HOR- 

TON  AND  HIS  MEN  CUT  OFF  FROM  US  AND  FORCED  TO  RETREAT 

—THE  BATTLE  OF  COLETI-O— IN  A  "TIGHT  PLACE"  I  LET  OFF 

MY  SCOPET  AND  COME  VERY  NEAR    KILLING  ALL  "BEHIND  IT." 

— CARISE   INDIAN   SHARPSHOOTERS — CAPT.  D.   GIVES  FOUR 

OF  THEM    THEIR   "QUIETUS" — MEXICAN  PRISONERS    "HOLE" 
THEMSELVES — RfiTRE/VT  OF  THE   ENEMY. 

At  length  after  a  halt  of  perhaps  an  hour  and  a  half  on  the 
prairie,  and  just  as  we  were  about  to  resume  our  march  for  the 
Coletto,  a  long  dark  line  was  seen  to  detach  itself  from  the 
timber  behind  us,  and  another  at  the  same  time  from  the  tim- 
ber to  our  left.  Some  one  near  me  exclaimed,  "Here  come 
the  Mexicans  !"  and  in  fact,  in  a  little  while,  we  perceived 
that  these  dark  lines  were  men  on  horseback,  moving  rapidly 
towards  us.  As  they  continued  to  approach,  they  lengthened 
out  their  columns,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  surrounding  us, 
and  in  doing  so  displayed  their  numbers  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage. I  thought  there  were  at  least  ten  thousand  (having 
never  before  seen  a  large  cavalry  force),  but  in  reality  there 
were  about  a  thousand  besides  several  hundred  infantry 
(mostly  Carise  Indians). 

In  the  meantime  we  were  formed  into  a  "hollow  square" 
with  lines  three  deep,  in  order  to  repel  the  charge  of  the 
cavalry,  which  we  expected  would  soon  be  made  upon  us. 
Our  artillery  was  placed  at  the  four  angles  of  the  square,  and 
our  wagons  and  oxen  inside.  Our  vanguard  under  Col.  Hor- 
ton,  had  gone  a  mile  or  so  ahead  of  us,  and  the  first  intima- 
tion they  had  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy  was  hearing  the 
fire  of  our  artillery  when  the  fight  began.  They  galloped 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  41 

back  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  regain  our  lines,  but  the  Mex- 
icans had  occupied  the  road  before  they  came  up  and  they 
were  compelled  to  retreat.  The  Mexicans  pursued  them  be- 
yond the  Coletto,  but  as  they  were  well  mounted  they  made 
their  escape. 

The  loss  of  these  mounted  men  was  a  most  unfortunate 
one  for  us.  Had  they  been  with  us  that  night  after  we  had 
driven  off  the  Mexicans,  we  would  have  had  means  of  trans- 
portation for  our  wounded,  and  could  easily  have  made  our 
retreat  to  the  Coletto. 

When  the  Mexicans  had  approached  to  within  half  a  mile 
of  our  lines  they  formed  into  three  columns,  one  remaining 
stationary,  the  other  two  moving  to  our  right  and  left,  but 
still  keeping  at  about  the  same  distance  from  us.  Whilst  they 
w'ere  carrying  out  this  maneuver,  our  artillery  opened  upon 
them  with  some  effect,  for  now  and  then  we  could  see  a 
round  shot  plough  through  their  dense  ranks.  When  the 
two  moving  columns,  the  one  on  the  right  and  the  one  on  the 
left  were  opposite  to  each  other,  they  suddenly  changed  front 
and  the  three  columns  with  trumpets  braying  and  pennons 
flying,  charged  upon  us  simultaneously  from  three  directions. 

When  within  three  or  four  hundred  yards  of  our  lines 
our  artillery  opened  upon  them  with  grape  and  cannister 
shot,  with  deadly  effect, — but  still  their  advance  was  un- 
checked, until  their  foremost  ranks  were  in  actual  contact  in 
some  places  with  the  bayonets  of  our  men.  But  the  fire  at 
close  quarters  from  our  muskets  and  rifles  was  so  rapid  and 
destructive,  that  before  long  they  fell  back  in  confusion, 
leaving  the  ground  covered  in  places  with  horses  and-  dead 
men. 

Capt.  D 's  company  of  Kentucky  riflemen  and  one  or 

two  small  detachments  from  other  companies  formed  one 
side  of  our  "square,"  and  in  addition  to  our  rifles,  each  man 
in  the  front  rank  was  furnished  with  a  musket  and  bayonet  to 


42  Kuril/  Time*  in   7V.iv/.s. 

repel  the  charge  of  cavalry.  Besides  my  rifle  and  musket  I 
had  slung  across  my  shoulders  an  "escopeta,"  a  short  light 
"blunderbuss"  used  by  the  Mexican  cavalry,  which  I  had 
carried  all  day  in  expectation  of  a  fight,  and  which  was  heav- 
ily charged  with  forty  "blue  whistlers"  and  powder  in  pro- 
portion. It  was  my  intention  only  to  fire  it  when  in  a  very 
"tight  place,"  for  I  was  well  aware  it  was  nearly  as  dangerous 
behind  it  as  before.  In  the  charge  made  by  the  Mexican  cav- 
alry they  nearly  succeeded  in  breakiug  our  lines  at  several 
places,  and  certainly  they  would  have  done  so  had  we  not 
taken  the  precaution  of  arming  a^l  in  the  front  rank  with  the 
bayonet  and  musket.  At  one  time  it  was  almost  a  hand  to 
hand  fight  between  the  cavalry  and  our  front  rank,  but  the 
two  files  in  the  rear  poured  such  a  continuous  fire  upon  the 
advancing  columns,  that,  as  I  have  said,  they  were  finally 
driven  back  in  disorder.  It  was  during  this  charge  and  when 
the  Mexican  cavalry  on  our  side  of  the  square  were  in  a  few 
feet  of  us,  that  I  concluded  that  I  had  got  into  that  "tight 
place''  and  that  it  was  time  to  let  off  the  "scopet"  I  carried. 
I  did  so,  and  immediately  I  went  heels  over  head  through 
both  ranks  behind  me.  One  or  two  came  to  my  assistance 
supposing  no  doubt  I  was  shot  (and  in  truth  I  thought  for  a 
moment  myself  that  a  two  ounce  bullet  had  struck  me)  but  I 
soon  rose  to  my  feet  and  took  my  place  in  the  line  again  just 
as  the  cavalry  began  to  fall  back.  Now,  I  don't  assert  that  it 
was  the  forty  "blue  whistlers"  I  had  sent  among  them  from 
my  "scopet"  that  caused  them  to  retreat  in  confusion.  I 
merely  mention  the  fact  that  they  did  fall  back  very  soon 
after  I  had  let  off  the  blunderbuss  among  them.  My  shoulder 
was  black  and  blue  trom  the  recoil  for  a  month  afterwards. 
When  I  took  my  place  in  the  line  again,  I  never  looked 
for  my  "scopet,"  but  contented  myself  while  the  fight  lasted 
with  my  rifle. 

The  Mexicans  had  no  doubt  supposed  they  would  be  able 


Ad  coil  tires  of  Jack  Dobell.  43 

to  break  our  lines  at  the  first  charge,  and  were  evidently 
much  disconcerted  by  their  failure  to  do  so;  for  although 
they  reformed  their  broken  columns  and  made  two  more  at- 
tempts to  charge  us,  they  were  driven  back  as  soon  as  they 
came  within  close  range  of  our  small  arms. 

When  they  were  satisfied  that  it  was  impossible  for  them 
to  break  our  lines,  the  cavalry  dismounted  and  surrounding 
us  in  open  order,  they  commenced  a  "fusilade"  upon  us  with 
their  muskets  and  escopetas,  but  being  very  poor  marksmen, 
most  of  their  bullets  passed  harmlessly  over  our  heads.  Be- 
sides, this  was  a  game  at  which  we  could  play  also,  and  for 
every  man  killed  or  wounded  on  our  side  I  am  confident  that 
two  or  three  Mexicans  fell  before  the  deadly  fire  from  our 
rifles.  But  there  were  with  the  Mexicans  probably  a  hundred 
or  so  Carise  Indians,  who  were  much  more  daring,  and  withal 
better  marksmen.  They  boldly  advanced  to  the  front,  and 
taking  advantage  of  every  little  inequality  of  the  ground  and 
every  bunch  of  grass  that  could  afford  them  particular  cover, 
they  would  crawl  up  closely  and  fire  upon  us,  and  now  and 
then  the  discharge  of  their  long  single  barrel  shot  guns  was 
followed  by  the  fall  of  some  one  in  our  ranks.  Four  of  them 
had  crawled  up  behind  some  bunches  of  tall  grass  within 
eighty  yards  of  us,  from  whence  they  delivered  their  fire 
with  telling  effect.  Capt.  D who  was  using  a  heavy  Ken- 
tucky rifle,  and  was  known  to  be  one  of  the  best  marksmen 
in  his  company,  was  requested  to  silence  these  Indians.  He 
took  a  position  near  a  gun  carriage,  and  whenever  one  of  the 
Indians  showed  his  head  above  the  tall  grass  it  was  perforated 
with  an  ounce  rifle  ball,  and  after  four  shots  they  were  seen 

no  more.     At  the  moment  he  fired  the  last  shot  Capt.  D 

had  one  of  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand  taken  off  by  a  mus- 
ket ball.  When  the  Mexicans  quit  the  field,  we  examined  the 
locality  where  these  Indians  had  secreted  themselves,  and 


/./  A'* //•//;  Times  in  Texas. 

found  the  four  lying  closely  together,  each  one  with  a  bullet 
hole  through  his  head. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  fight  a  little  incident  of  a 
somewhat  ludicrous  character  occurred.  We  had  some  five 
or  six  Mexican  prisoners  (the  couriers  of  the  old  padre,  cap- 
tured at  Carlos'  Ranch).  These  we  had  placed  within  the 
square,  when  the  fight  began,  for  safe  keeping,  and  in  an  in- 
credibly short  time,  with  picks  and  shovels,  they  dug  a  trench 
deep  enough  to  "hole"  themselves,  where  they  lay  "perdue" 
and  completely  protected  from  bullets.  I  for  one,  however, 
didn't  blame  them,  as  they  were  non-combatants,  and  besides 
to  tell  the  truth  when  bullets  were  singing  like  mad  hornets 
around  me,  and  men  were  struck  down  near  me,  I  had  a  great 
inclination  to  "hole  up"  myself  and  draw  it  in  after  me. 

The  fight  continued  in  a  desultory  kind  of  way,  until  near 
sunset,  when  we  made  a  sortie  upon  the  dismounted  cavalry, 
and  they  hastily  remounted  and  fell  back  to  the  timber  to 
our  left,  where,  as  soon  as  it  was  dark,  a  long  line  of  fires 
indicated  the  position  of  their  encampment. 

That  night  was  anything  but  rest  for  us,  for  anticipating  a 
renewal  of  the  fight  the  next  morning,  all  hands  were  set  to 
work  digging  entrenchments  and  throwing  up  embankments, 
and  at  this  we  labored  unceasingly  till  nearly  daylight.  We 
dug  four  trenches  enclosing  a  square  large  enough  to  contain 
our  whole  force,  throwing  the  earth  on  the  outside,  on  which 
we  placed  our  baggage  and  everything  else  available,  that 
might  help  to  protect  us  from  the  bullets  of  the  enemy. 

Before  we  began  this  work,  however,  Col.  Fannin  made  a 
short  speech  to  the  men,  in  which  he  told  them  "that  in  his 
opinion,  the  only  way  of  extricating  themselves  from  the 
difficulty  they  were  in,  was  to  retreat  after  dark  to  the  timber 
on  the  Coletto,  and  cut  their  way  through  the  enemy's  lines 
should  they  attempt  to  oppose  the  movement."  He  told  them 
there  was  no  doubt  they  would  be  able  to  do  this,  as  the 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  45 

enemy  had  evidently  been  greatly  demoralized  by  the  com- 
plete failure  of  the  attack  they  had  made  upon  'us.  He  said, 
moreover,  that  the  necessity  for  a  speedy  retreat  was  the 
more  urgent,  as  it  was  more  than  probable  that  the  Mexicans 
would  be  heavily  reinforced  during  the  night.  He  concluded 
by  saying  that  if  a  majority  were  in  favor  of  retreating,  pre- 
parations would  be  made  to  leave  as  soon  as  it  was  dark 
enough  to  conceal  our  movements  from  the  enemy.  But  we 
had  about  seventy  men  wounded  (most  of  them  badly)  and 
as  almost  every  one  had  some  friend  or  relative  among  them, 
after  a  short  consultation  upon  the  subject,  it  was  unanimous- 
ly determined  not  to  abandon  our  wounded  men,  but  to  re- 
main with  them  and  share  their  fate,  whatever  it  might  be. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TKKAN  Loss  IN  THE  COLETTO  FIGHT— DISMAL  NIGHT  ON  THE 
PRAIRIE— THREE  DESERTERS  SHOT  BY  THE  MEXICAN  PATROL 
— PREPARATIONS  FOR  RENEWING  THE  FIGHT — HOISTIN 
TIIK  "WHITE  FLAG" — COL.  FANNIN  REFUSES  TO  SURRENDER 
••AT  DISCRETION:"— MEXICANS  FIRE  UPON  us  WITH  ARTIL- 
i;v— WHITE  FLAG  AGAIN — PARLEY — GEN.  URREA  COMES 
INTO  OUR  LINKS — CAPITULATION  AGREED  UPON  AND  TERMS 
REDUCED  TO  WRITING — MEXICAN  LOSS  IN  THE  FlGHT MAR- 
TINI •:/  THE  TREACHEROUS  FRIEND. 

Our  loss  in  the  Coletto  fight  was  ten  killed  and  about  sev- 
enty wounded  (Col.  Fannin  among  the  latter),  and  most  of 
them  badly,  owing  to  the  size  of  the  balls  thrown  by  the 
Mexican  escopetas,  and  the  shotguns  of  the  Indians.  The 
number  of  our  casualities  was  extremely  small  considering 
the  force  of  the  enemy,  and  the  duration  of  the  fight,  which 
began  about  three  o'clock  and  lasted  till  nearly  sunset.  I 
can  only  account  for  it  by  the  fact  that  the  Mexicans  were 
very  poor  marksmen,  and  that  their  powder  was  of  a  very  in- 
ferior quality.  There  was  scarcely  a  man  in  the  whole  com- 
mand who  had  not  been  struck  by  one  or  more  spent  balls, 
which,  in  place  of  mere  bruises  would  have  inflicted  danger- 
ous or  fatal  wounds  if  the  powder  used  by  the  Mexicans  had 
been  better. 

I  can  never  forget  how  slowly  the  hours  of  that  dismal 
night  passed  by.  The  distressing  cries  of  our  wounded  men 
begging  for  water  when  there  was  not  a  drop  to  give  them, 
were  continually  ringing  in  my  ears.  Even  those  who  were 
not  wounded,  but  were  compelled  to  work  all  night  in  the 
trenches,  suffered  exceedingly  with  thirst.  Even  after  we 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  47 

had  fortified  our  position  as  well  as  we  could,  we  had  but  lit- 
tie  hopes  of  being  able  to  defend  ourselves,  should  the  Mexi- 
cans as  we  apprehended,  receive  reinforcements  during  the 
night,  for  we  had  but  one  or  two  rounds  of  ammunition  left 
for  the  cannon,  and  what  remained  for  the  small  arms  was 
not  sufficient  for  a  protracted  struggle. 

Some  time  during  the  night  it  was  ascertained  that  three  of 
our  men  (whose  names  I  have  forgotten)  had  deserted,  and 
shortly  afterwards  as  a  volley  of  musketry  was  heard  between 
us  and  the  timber  on  the  Coletto,  they  were  no  doubt  dis- 
covered and  shot  by  the  Mexican  patrol. 

Daylight  at  last  appeared,  and  before  the  sun  had  risen  we 
saw  that  the  Mexican  forces  were  all  in  motion,  and  evident- 
ly preparing  to  make  another  attack  upon  us.  When  fairly 
out  of  the  timber,  we  soon  discovered  that  they  had  been 
heavily  reinforced  during  the  night.  In  fact,  as  we  subse- 
quently learned  from  the  Mexicans  themselves,  a  detachment 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  cavalry  and  an  artillery  company 
had  joined  them  shortly  after  their  retreat  to  the  timber.  In 
the  fight  of  the  previous  day  they  had  no  cannon. 

They  moved  down  upon  us  in  four  divisions,  and  when 
within  five  or  six  hundred  yards,  they  unlimbered  their  field 
pieces  (two  brass  nine  pounders)  and  opened  fire  upon  us. 
We  did  not  return  their  fire,  because  as  I  have  said,  we  had 
only  one  or  two  rounds  of  ammunition  left  for  our  cannon, 
and  the  distance  was  too  great  for  small  arms.  Their  shot, 
however,  all  went  over  us,  and  besides,  the  breast  works  we 
had  thrown  up  would  have  protected  us,  even  if  their  guns 
had  been  better  aimed.  We  expected  momentarily  that  the 
cavalry  would  charge  us,  but  after  firing  several  rounds  from 
their  nine  pounders,  an  officer  accompanied  by  a  soldier 
bearing  a  white  flag,  rode  out  towards  us,  and  by  signs  gave 
us  to  understand  that  he  desired  a  ' 'parley."  Major  Wallace 
and  several  other  officers  went  out  and  met  him  about  half 


I-'.  urln   Tina'*  in   Tc.ras. 


way  between  our  "fort"  and  the  Mexican  lines.  The  sub- 
stance of  the  Mexican  officer's  communication  (as  I  under- 
stood at  the  time)  was  to  the  effect  "that  Gen.  Urrea,  the 
commander  of  the  Mexican  forces,  being  anxious  to  avoid 
the  useless  shedding  of  blood  (seeing  we  were  now  completely 
in  his  power),  would  guarantee  to  Col.  Fannin  and  his  men, 
on  his  word  of  honor  as  an  officer  and  gentleman,  that  we 
would  be  leniently  dealt  with,  provided  we  surrendered  at 
discretion,  without  further  attempt  at  hopeless  resistance." 
When  this  message  was  delivered  to  Col.  Fannin,  he  sent 
word  back  to  the  officer  "to  say  to  Gen.  Urrea,  it  was  a  waste 
of  time  to  discuss  the  subject  of  surrendering  at  discretion  — 
that  he  would  fight  as  long  as  there  was  a  man  left  to  fire  a 
gun  before  he  would  surrender  on  such  terms.'' 

A  little  while  afterwards  the  Mexicans  again  made  a  show 
of  attacking  us,  but  just  as  we  were  expecting  them  to  charge, 
Gen.  Urrea  himself  rode  out  in  front  of  his  lines  accompan- 
ied by  several  of  his  officers  and  the  soldier  with  the  "white 
flag."  Col.  Fannin  and  Major  Wallace  went  out  to  meet 
them,  and  the  terms  of  capitulation  were  finally  agreed  upon, 
the  most  important  of  which  was,  that  we  should  be  held  as 
prisoners  of  war  until  exchanged,  or  liberated  on  our  parole 
of  honor  not  to  engage  in  the  war  again  —  at  the  option  o 
the  Mexican  commander  in  chief.  There  were  minor  articles 
included  in  it,  such  as  that  our  side  arms  should  be  retain- 
ed, etc. 

When  the  terms  of  capitulation  had  been  fully  decided 
upon,  Gen.  Urrea  and  his  secretary  and  interpreter  came 
into  our  lines  with  Col.  Fannin,  where  it  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  an  English  translation  given  to  Col.  Fannin 
which  was  read  to  our  men.  I  am  thus  particular  in  stating 
what  I  know  to  be  the  facts  in  regard  to  this  capitulation, 
because  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  Gen.  Santa  Anna  always 
asserted  there  was  no  capitulation,  and  that  Col.  Fannin  sur- 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  49 

rendered  at  discretion  to  Gen.  Urrea.  This  assertion  I  have 
no  doubt  was  made  to  justify  as  far  as  possible  his  order  for 
the  cold  blooded  murder  of  disarmed  prisoners.  Gen.  Urrea, 
I  believe,  never  denied  the  fact  of  the  capitulation,  and  I 
have  been  informed,  when  the  order  was  sent  him  by  Santa 
Anna  to  execute  the  prisoners,  he  refused  to  carry  it  into 
effect,  and  turned  over  the  command  to  a  subaltern. 

I  have  always  believed  myself  that  Gen.  Urrea  entered  in- 
to the  capitulation  with  Col.  Fannin  in  good  faith,  and  that 
the  massacre  of  the  prisoners,  which  took  place  some  days 
afterwards,  was  by  the  express  order  of  Santa  Anna,  and 
against  the  remonstrances  of  Gen.  Urrea.  If  Gen.  Urrea  had 
intended  to  act  treacherously,  the  massacre,  in  my  opinion, 
would  have  taken  place  as  soon  as  we  had  delivered  up  our 
arms,  when  we  were  upon  an  open  prairie,  surrounded  by  a 
large  force  of  cavalry,  where  it  would  have  been  utterly  im- 
possible for  a  single  soul  to  have  escaped,  and  consequently 
he  could  then  have  given  to  the  world  his  own  version  of  the 
affair  without  fear  of  contradiction. 

I  have  said  nothing  as  yet  of  the  Mexican  loss  in  the  fight 
and  I  cannot  do  so  with  any  certainty,  of  my  own  knowledge; 
but  there  is  no  doubt  it  was  much  greater  than  ours.  They 
told  us  after  we  had  surrendered  that  we  had  killed  and 
wounded  several  hundred.  Dr.  Joseph  Barnard,  our  assist- 
ant surgeon,  who  was  saved  from  the  massacre  to  attend  their 
wounded,  told  me  afterwards  that  he  was  confident  we  had 
killed  and  wounded  between  three  and  four  hundred,  and  his 
opportunities  for  forming  a  correct  estimate  of  the  number 
were  certainly  better  than  those  of  any  one  else. 

After  our  surrender  we  were  marched  back  to  Goliad, 
escorted  by  a  large  detachment  of  cavalry,  and  there  con- 
fined within  the  walls  surrounding  the  old  mission. 

Among  the  Mexican  officers  there  was  a  lieutenant  by  the 
name  of  Martinez,  who  had  been  educated  at  a  Catholic 


:><>  Kuril/  Times  in  Texas. 

college  in  Kentucky,  where  he  had  been  a   room-mate  of  a 

member  of  Capt.  D 's  company,   by  the  name  of  B . 

ry  day  whilst  we  were  prisoners  he  used  to  come  and  talk 

with  B ,  and  professed  his  great  regret  to  find  him  in  such 

a  situation,  but  he  never  gave  him  the  slightest  intimation  of 
the  treacherous  designs  of  the  Mexicans,  nor,  as  far  as  I 
know,  made  the  least  effort  to  save  his  college  room-mate. 


MAJOR  WARD  AND  HIS  BATTALION  BROUGHT  TO  GOLIAD — ALSO 
CAPT.  MILLER  AND  HIS  MEN — CONFINED  IN  THE  OLD  MIS- 
SION— MEXICAN  SOLDIER  ASTONISHED — TYRANICAL  OFFICER 
— AN  OFFICER  TRYS  TO  MAKE  A  GOOD  CATHOLIC  OF  ME,  BUT 
FAILS — ORDERED  TO  COPANO  —  MARCHED  OUT  IN  THREE 
DIVISIONS — THE  MASSACRE — I  NARROWLY  ESCAPE  THE  BAY- 
ONET, SWIM  THE  RIVER  AND  HALT  UPON  THE  OPPOSITE  SIDE. 

A  day  or  so  after  our  return  as  prisoners  to  Goliad,  Maj. 
Ward  and  his  battalion,  or  rather  those  who  survived  the  en- 
gagement they  had  with  the  Mexicans,  near  Refugio,  were 
brought  in  and  confined  with  us,  within  the  walls  enclosing 
the  old  mission;  and  also  a  company  of  about  eighty  men 
under  the  command  of  Maj.  Miller,  who  had  been  surprised 
and  captured  at  Copano  just  after  they  had  landed  from  their 
vessel.  These  men  were  also  confined  with  us,  but  kept  sep- 
arate from  the  rest,  and  to  distinguish  them,  each  had  a  white 
cloth  tied  around  one  of  his  arms.  At  the  time,  I  had  no 
idea  why  this  was  done,  but  subsequently  I  learned  the 
reason. 

The  morning  of  the  sixth  day  after  our  return  to  Goliad, 
whether  the  Mexicans  suspected  we  intended  to  rise  upon  the 
guard,  or  whether  they  merely  wished  to  render^our  situation 
as  uncomfortable  as  possible,  I  know  not,  but  at  any  rate 
from  that  time  we  were  confined  in  the  old  mission,  where  we 
were  so  crowded  we  had  hardly  room  to  lie  down  at  night. 
Our  rations  too,  about  that  time,  had  been  reduced  to  five 
ounces  of  fresh  beef  a  day,  which  we  had  to  cook  in  the  best 
way  we  could  and  eat  without  salt. 

Although,  thus  closely  confined  and  half  starved,  no  person- 


Early  Times  in  Texas. 

al  indignity  was  ever  offered  to  us  to  my  knowledge,  except 
on  two  occasions.  Once  a  Mexican  soldier  pricked  one  of 
our  men  with  his  bayonet,  because  he  did  not  walk  quite  fast 
enough  to  suit  him,  whereupon  he  turned  and  knocked  the 
Mexican  down  with  his  fist.  I  fully  expected  to  see  him  rough- 
ly handled  for  this  "overt  act,"  but  the  officer  in  command  of 
the  guard,  who  saw  the  affair,  came  up  to  him  and  patting 
him  on  the  shoulder,  told  him  he  was  "muy  bravo,"  and  that 
he  had  served  the  soldier  exactly  right.  At  another  time  one 
of  our  men  was  complaining  to  the  officer  of  the  guard  of 
the  ration  issued  to  him,  who  ordered  one  of  the  soldiers  to 
collect  a  quantity  of  bones  and  other  offal  lying  around,  and 
throwing  them  on  the  ground  before  , the  man,  said,  "There, 
eat  as  much  as  you  want — good  enough  for  Gringoes  and 
heretics." 

One  day  an  officer  who  was  passing,  asked  me  some  ques- 
tion in  Spanish,  and  when  I  answered  him  in  Spanish,  he  took 
a  seat  by  me,  and  talked  with  me  for  some  time.  He  asked 
me  a  great  many  questions  about  the  United  States,  our  form 
of  government,  the  number  of  our  regular  army,  what  State 
1  came  from  and  what  induced  me  to  come  to  Texas,  etc.,  to 
all  of  which  I  frankly  answered.  He  expressed  much  aston- 
ishment at  the  correctness  of  my  pronunciation,  and  asked 
where  I  had  learned  to  speak  Spanish,  saying  he  was  sure  I 
had  not  learnt  the  language  among  the  Mexicans.  I  told  him 
I  had  studied  Spanish  under  a  teacher  of  modern  languages 
at  a  Catholic  institution  in  Kentucky.  He  then  asked  if  I  was 
a  Catholic  myself,  and  when  I  told  him  I  was  not,  he  seemed 
disappointed,  and  tried  in  various  ways  to  get  some  sort  of 
admission  from  me  that  I  had  more  faith  in  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion than  any  other. 

The  talk  I  had  with  this  officer  made  but  little  impression 
upon  me  at  the  time,  but  I  have  since  thought  on  account  of 
my  youth,  or  because  I  had  in  some  way  gained  his  favor,  he 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  53 

was  desirous  of  an  excuse  or  pretext  to  save  me  from  the  fate 
he  probably  knew  was  in  store  for  us.  I  know  that  several 
of  our  men  were  saved  from  the  massacre,  for  no  other  rea- 
son that  I  am  aware  of,  than  that  they  professsdto  be  members 
of  the  Catholic  church.  Several  times  afterwards  the  officer 
above  mentioned  came  to  talk  with  me,  and  he  insisted  I  was 
a  Catholic  if  I  would  but  own  it;  but  I  strenuously  denied 
"the  soft  impeachment"  to  the  last.  If  I  had  suspected  his 
object  in  getting  me  to  admit  that  I  was  a  Catholic,  it  is 
probable  I  might  have  sought  temporal  as  well  as  eternal  safety 
the  bosom  of  the  church.  It  would  have  been  very  easy  for 
me  to  have  passed  for  a  "good  Catholic,"  for  Catholicism  (at 
least  among  the  lower  class  of  Mexicans)  consists  mainly  in 
knowing  how  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  together  with 
unbounded  reverence  first,  for  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  secondly, 
for  the  saints  generally — and  the  priests.  But  I  did  not  sus- 
pect the  object  this  officer  had  in  view  when  he  tried  to  make 
a  convert  of  me  to  the  true  faith,  and  I  am  afraid  I  have  lost 
the  only  chance  I  shall  ever  have  of  becoming  a  "good 
Catholic." 

On  the  morning  of  the  2yth  of  March,  a  Mexican  officer 
came  to  us  and  ordered  us  to  get  ready  for  a  march.  He 
told  us  we  were  to  be  liberated  on  "parole,"  and  that  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  to  send  us  to  New  Orleans  on  board  of 
vessels  then  at  Copano.  This,  you  may  be  sure,  was  joyful 
news  to  us,  and  we  lost  no  time  in  making  preparations  to 
leave  our  uncomfortable  quarters.  When  all  was  ready  we 
were  formed  into  three  divisions  and  marched  out  under  a 
strong  guard.  As  we  passed  by  some  Mexican  women  who 
were  standing  near  the  main  entrance  to  the  fort,  I  heard 
them  say  "pobrecitos"  (poor  fellows),  but  the  incident  at  the 
time  made  but  little  impression  on  my  mind. 

One  of  our  divisions  was  taken  down  the  road  leading  to 
the  lower  ford  of  the  river,  one  upon  the  road  to  San  Patricio, 


l<(  ii-lil  Time*  in  Texas. 

and  the  division  to  which  my  company  was  attached,  along 
the  road  leading  to  San  Antonio.  A  strong  guard  accompan- 
ied us,  marching  in  double  files  on  both  sides  of  our  column. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  this  division  of  our  men  into  three 
s<]tuuls,  and  marching  us  off  in  three  directions,  was  rather 
a  singular  maneuver,  but  still  I  had  no  suspicion  of  the  foul 
play  intended  us.  When  about  half  a  mile  above  town,  a 
halt  was  made  and  the  guard  on  the  side  next  the  river  filed 
around  to  the  opposite  side.  Hardly  had  this  maneuver  been 
executed,  when  I  heard  a  heavy  firing  of  musketry  in  the 
directions  taken  by  the  other  two  divisions.  Some  one  near 
me  exclaimed  "Boys!  they  are  going  to  shoot  us!"  and  at  the 
same  instant  I  heard  the  clicking  of  musket  locks  all  along 
the  Mexican  line.  I  turned  to  look,  and  as  I  did  so,  the 
Mexicans  fired  upon  us,  killing  probably  one  hundred  out  of 
the  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  division.  We  were  in 
double  file  and  I  was  in  the  rear  rank.  The  man  in  front  of 
me  was  shot  dead,  and  in  falling  he  knocked  me  down.  I 
did  not  get  up  for  a  moment,  and  when  I  rose  to  my  feet,  I 
found  that  the  whole  Mexican  line  had  charged  over  me,  and 
were  in  hot  pursuit  of  those  who  had  not  been  shot  and  who 
were  fleeing  towards  the  river  about  five  hundred  yards  dis- 
tant. I  followed  on  after  them,  for  I  knew  that  escape  in 
any  other  direction  (all  open  prairie)  would  be  impossible, 
and  I  had  nearly  reached  the  river  before  it  became  necessa- 
ry to  make  my  way  through  the  Mexican  line  ahead.  As  I 
did  so,  one  of  the  soldiers  charged  upon  me  with  his  bayonet 
(his  gun  I  suppose  being  empty).  As  he  drew  his  musket 
back  to  make  a  lunge  at  me,  one  of  our  men  coming  from 
another  direction,  ran  between  us,  and  the  bayonet  was 
driven  through  his  body.  .  The  blow  was  given  with  such 
force,  that  in  falling,  the  man  probably  wrenched  or  tiwsted 
the  bayonet  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  the  Mexican  from 
withdrawing  it  immediately.  I  saw  him  put  his  foot  upon 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  55 

the  man,  and  make  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  extricate  ^the 
bayonet  from  his  body,  but  one  look  satisfied  me,  as  Ijwas 
somewhat  in  a  hurry  just  then,  and  I  hastened  to  the  bank 
of  the  river  and  plunged  in.  The  river  at  that  point  was 
deep  and  swift,  but  not  wide,  and  being  a  good  swimmer,  I 
soon  gained  the  opposite  bank,  untouched  by  any  of  the  bul- 
lets that  were  pattering  in  the  water  around  my  head.  But 
here  I  met  with  an  unexpected  difficulty.  The  bank  on  that 
side  was  so  steep  I  found  it  was  impossible  to  climb  ,it, 
and  I  continued  to  swim  down  the  river  until  I  came  to 
where  a  grape  vine  hung  from  the  bough  of  a  leaning  tree 
nearly  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  This  I  caught  hold  of 
and  was  climbing  up  it  hand  over  hand,  sailor  fashion,  when 
a  Mexican  on  the  opposite  bank  fired  at  me  with  his  escope- 
ta,  and  with  so  true  an  aim,  that  he  cut  the  vine  in^two  just 
above  my  head,  and  down  I  came  into  the  water  again.  I 
then  swam  on  about  a  hundred  yards  further,  when  I  came  to 
a  place  where  the  bank  was  not  quite  so  steep,  and  with  some 
difficulty  I  managed  to  clamber  up. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HEADED  OFF  BY  A  PARTY  or  LANCERS — WITNESS  THE  MURDER 
FIVE  OR  SIX  OF  OUR  MEN — DODGE   THE   LANCERS  AND 

FINALLY  ESCAPE — HlDE  IN  GROVE  OF  TIMBER  TILL  NIGHT 

EXECUTION  OF  COL.  FANNIN — WONDERFUL  ESCAPE  OF  WM. 
HUNTER. 

The  river  on  the  north  side  was  bordered  by  timber  sev- 
eral hundred  yards  in  width,  through  which  I  quickly  passed 
and  I  was  just  about  to  leave  it  and  strike  out  into  the  open 
prairie,  when  I  discovered  a  party  of  lancers  nearly  in  front 
of  me,  sitting  on  their  horses,  and  evidently  stationed  there 
to  intercept  any  one  who  should  attempt  to  escape  in  that 
direction.  I  halted  at  once  under  cover  of  the  timber, 
through  which  I  could  see  the  lancers  in  the  open  prairie, 
but  which  hid  me  entirely  from  their  view. 

Whilst  I  was  thus  waiting  and  undecided  as  to  the  best 
course  to  pursue  under  the  circumstances,  I  saw  a  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Holliday,  one  of  my  own  messmates,  passing 
through  the  timber  above  me  in  a  course  that  would  have 
taken  him  out  at  the  point  directly  opposite  to  which  the 
lancers  were  stationed.  I  called  to  him  as  loudly  as  I  dared 
and  fortunately,  being  on  the  "qui  vive,"  he  heard  me,  and 
stopped  far  enough  within  the  timber  to  prevent  the  lancers 
from  discovering  him.  I  then  pulled  off  a  fur  cap  I  had  on, 
and  beckoned  to  him  with  it.  This  finally  drew  his  attention 
to  me,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  me  he  came  to  where  I  was 
standing,  from  whence,  without  being  visible  to  them,  the 
lancers  could  be  plainly  seen. 

A  few  moments  afterwards  we  were  joined  by  a  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Brown,  from  Georgia,  who  had  just  swam  the 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  57 

river,  and  had  accidentally  stumbled  on  the  place  where 
Holliday  and  I  were  holding  a  "council  of  war"  as  to  what 
was  the  best  course  to  pursue.  Holliday,  although  a  brave 
man,  was  very  much  excited,  and  had  lost  to  some  extent  his 
presence  of  mind,  for  he  proposed  we  should  leave  the  tim- 
ber at  once  and  take  the  chances  of  evading  the  lancers  we 
saw  on  the  prairie.  I  reasoned  with  him  on  the  folly  of  such 
a  proceeding,  and  told  him  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to 
escape  in  the  open  prairie  from  a  dozen  men  on  horseback. 
"But,"  said  Holliday,  "the  Mexicans  are  crossing  the  river 
behind  us,  and  they  will  soon  be  here."  "That  may  be,"  I 
replied,  ''but  they  are  not  here  yet,  and  in  the  mean  time 
something  may  turn  up  to  favor  our  escape."  Brown  took 
the  same  view  of  the  case  I  did,  and  Holliday's  wild  propo- 
sition to  banter  a  dozen  mounted  men  for  a  race  on  the  open 
prairie  was  "laid  upon  the  table." 

Whilst  we  were  debating  this  (to  us)  momentous  question, 
some  four  or  five  of  our  men  passed  out  of  the  timber  before 
we  saw  them,  into  the  open  prairie,  and  when  they  discovered 
the  lancers  it  was  to  late.  The  lancers  charged  upon  them 
at  once,  speared  them  to  death,  and  then  dismounting  robbed 
them  of  such  things  as  they  had  upon  their  persons.  From 
where  we  stood  the  whole  proceeding  was  plainly  visible  to 
us,  and  as  may  be  imagined,  it  was  not  calculated  to  encour- 
age any  hopes  we  might  have  had  of  making  our  escape. 
However,  after  the  lancers  had  plundered  the  men  they  had 
just  murdered,  they  remounted,  and  in  a  few  moments  set  off 
in  a  rapid  gallop  down  the  river  to  where  it  is  probable  they 
had  discovered  other  fugitives  coming  out  of  the  timber. 
We  at  once  seized  the  opportunity  thus  affordecj  us  to  leave 
the  strip  of  timber  which  we  knew  could  give  us  shelter  but 
for  a  few  moments  longer,  and  started  out,  taking  advantage 
of  a  shallow  ravine  which  partially  hid  us  from  view.  We 
had  scarcly  gone  two  hundred  yards  from  the  timber,  when 


Tinier  in  Texas. 

we  saw  the  lancers  gallop  back  and  take  up  their  position  at 
the  same  place  they  had  previously  occupied.  Strange  to 
say,  however,  they  never  "observed  us,  although  we  were  in 
plain  view  of  them  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  without 
a  single  brush  or  tree  to  screen  us. 

We  traveled  about  five  or  six  miles  and  stopped  in  a  thick 
grove  to  rest  ourselves,  where  we  staid  until  night.  All  day 
long  we  heard  at  intervals  irregular  discharges  of  musketry 
in  the  distance,  indicating,  as  we  supposed,  where  fugitives 
from  the  massacre  were  overtaken  and  shot  by  the  pursuing 
parties  of  Mexicans. 

As  the  undergrowth  was  pretty  dense  in  the  grove  where 
we  had  stopped,  we  concluded  the  chances  of  being  picked 
up  by  one  of  these  pursuing  parties  would  be  greater  if  we 
traveled  on  than  if  we  remained  where  we  were,  and  we  de- 
termined to  "lie  by"  until  night.  In  talking  the  matter  over 
and  reflecting  upon  the  many  narrow  risks  we  had  run  in 
making  our  escape,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  in  all 
probability  we  were  the  only  survivors  of  the  hundreds  who 
had  that  morning  been  led  out  to  slaughter  ;  although  in  fact 
as  we  subsequently  learned,  twenty-five  or  thirty  of  our  men 
eventually  reached  the  settlements  on  the  Brazos.  Drs. 
Shackleford  and  Barnard,  our  surgeons,  were  saved  from  the 
massacre  to  attend  upon  Mexicans  wounded  in  the  fight  on  the 
Coletto,  and  when  their  forces  retreated  from  Goliad  after 
the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  these  were  taken  to  San  Antonio, 
where  they  were  ultimately  liberated.  Our  own  wounded 
men,  or  rather  those  of  them  that  survived  up  to  the  time  of 
the  massacre,  were  carried  out  into  the  open  square  of  the 
fort,  and  there  cruelly  butchered  by  the  guard.  Capti  Miller 
and  his  men  were  saved,  because,  as  I  was  subsequently  in- 
formed, they  had  been  captured  soon  after  they  landed  from 
their  vessel,  without  any  arms,  and  of  course  without  making 
any  resistance. 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  59 

Col.  Fannin,  who  was  confined  to  his  quarters  by  a  wound 
he  had  received  at  the  fight  on  the  Coletto,  soo'n  after  the 
massacre  of  his  men,  was  notified  to  prepare  for  immediate 
execution.  He  merely  abserved  that  he  was  ready  then,  as 
he  had  no  desire  to  live  after  the  cold-blooded,  cowardly 
murder  of  his  men.  He  was  thereupon  taken  out  to  the 
square  by  a  guard,  where  he  was  seated  on  a  bench,  and  his 
eyes  blindfolded.  A  moment  before  the  order  to  ufire"  was 
given,  I  was  told  (though  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the 
statement)  he  drew  a  fine  gold  watch  from  his  pocket,  and 
handing  it  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the  guard,  requested 
him  as  a  last  favor  to  order  his  men  to  shoot  him  in  the 
breast  and  not  in  the  head.  The  officer  took  the  watch,  and 
immediately  ordered  the  guard  to  fire  at  his  head.  Col.  Fan- 
nin fell  dead  and  his  body  was  thrown  into  one  of  the  ravines 
near  the  fort.  Thus  died  as  brave  a  son  of  Georgia  as  ever 
came  from  that  noble  old  State. 

The  escape  of  Wm.  Hunter  was  most  wonderful.  At  the 
first  fire  he  fell  pierced  by  a  musket  ball.  A  Mexican  soldier 
thinking  he  was  not  quite  dead,  cut  his  throat  with  a  butcher 
knife,  but  not  deep  enough  to  sever  the  jugular  vein,  stabbed 
him  with  his  bayonet,  and  then  beat  him  over  the  head  with 
the  breech  of  his  musket,  until  he  was  satisfied  his  bloody- 
work  was  accomplished.  He  then  stripped  him  of  his  cloth- 
ing and  left  him  for  dead  upon  the  ground  where  he  had 
fallen.  Hunter  laid  there  in  a  perfectly  unconscious  state  until 
dark,  but  after  night  came  on,  the  cool  air  and  dew  revived 
him,  and  by  degrees  he  regained  his  senses.  For  a  time  all 
that  had  occurred  since  morning  appeared  like  a  troubled 
dream  to  him,  but  gradually  the  reality  of  the  events  that 
had  taken  place  forced  itself  upon  his  mind,  and  he  cau- 
tiously raised  his  head  to  reconnoitre.  All  was  still  around, 
and  not  a  moving,  living  creature  was  visible,  nothing  but 
the  pallid  upturned  faces  of  his  murdered  comrades  dimly 


tin  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

seen  in  the  waning  light  of  day.  He  found  himself  extremely 
weak  from  loss  of  blood,  and  his  limbs  were  sore  and  stiff- 
ened; but  he  was  suffering  intensely  from  thirst,  and  he  re- 
solved, if  possible,  to  drag  himself  to  the  river.  With  much 
pain  and  difficulty,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  water,  and 
after  quenching  his  thirst,  he  bound  up  his  wounds  as  well  as 
he  could  with  strips  of  cloth  torn  from  his  shirt. 

Before  daylight  he  had  recovered  his  strength  so  far  that 
he  was  able  to  swim  the  river,  and  took  his  way  to  a  Mexican 
ranch  on  the  Manahuila  creek,  with  the  people  of  which  he 
had  had  some  previous  acquaintance,  thinking  it  was  better 
to  trust  himself  to  their  tender  mercies  than  to  attempt  to 
travel  through  a  wilderness  in  his  wounded  and  weakened 
condition. 

When  near  the  ranch  he  met  a  Mexican  woman,  who  told 
him  he  would  certainly  be  killed  if  he  went  there.  She  ad- 
vised him  to  secrete  himself  in  a  thicket  she  designated,  and 
told  him  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  she  would  come  out  to  him 
and  bring  him  some  food  and  clothing.  Hunter  had  his 
suspicions  that  she  intended  to  betray  him,  yet  there  was  no 
alternative  but  to  trust  her,  and  he  hid  himself  in  the  thicket 
she  had  pointed  out  to  him,  and  anxiously  awaited  her  reap- 
pearance. True  to  her  promise,  a  little  while  after  dark,  she 
returned,  bringing  some  provisions  and  water,  together  with 
a  suit  of  Mexican  clothes. 

For  nearly  a  week  this  Mexican  woman  came  to  his  place 
of  concealment  every  night,  fed  him  and  dressed  his  wounds 
until  he  was  sufficiently  restored  to  travel.  She  then  sup- 
plied him  with  as  much  provisions  as  he  could  carry  and  also 
a  flint  and  steel  for  making  fire,  and  bidding  him  "adios"  she 
returned  to  the  ranch. 

Thus  recruited  and  supplied  with  clothing  and  provisions, 
flunter  took  his  course  through  the  wilderness,  and  having  a 
pretty  good  idea  of  the  "lay  of  the  land,"  after  many  narrow 
escapes  he  eventually  made  his  way  to  the  Texan  army  under 
General  Houston. 


OHAPTEK  X. 

TAKE  THE  ROAD  AGAIN — INDIAN  SIGN — NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM 
LANCERS — SUFFERING  FROM  HUNGER — LOST  AND  TAKE  THE 
BACK  TRAIL — RETURN  NEARLY  TO  GOLIAD — MAKE  A  FRESH 
START  AND  HOLLIDAY  TAKES  THE  LEAD  AND  AGAIN  GOES 
WRONG — I  REBEL — DISAGREEMENT  IN  CAMP,  COMPROMISE, 
AND  I  FINALLY  LEAD  THE  WAY. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  we  left  our  hiding  place  and  set  out 
in  a  northeasterly  direction,  as  nearly  as  we  could  determine, 
and  traveled  until  daylight,  when  we  stopped  an  hour  or  so  in 
a  grove  to  rest.  We  then  proceded  on  our  course  again  till 
near  sunset,  when  we  encamped  in  a  thick  "mot"  of  timber 
without  water.  An  unusually  cold  norther  for  the  season  of 
the  year  was  blowing,  and  a  steady  drizzling  rain  was  falling 
when  we  stopped.  Brown,  who  had  pulled  off  his  coat  and 
shoes  before  he  swam  the  San  Antonio  river,  suffered  severely, 
and  I  was  apprehensive,  should  we  be  exposed  all  night  to 
such  weather  without  a  fire,  that  he  would  freeze  to  death.  I 
had  a  little  tinder  box  in  my  pocket  containing  a  flint  and 
steel,  but  all  the  tinder  there  was  in  it  was  a  small  piece  not 
much  larger  than  a  pin  head. 

This  I  carefully  placed  on  a  batch  of  cotton  taken  from  the 
lining  of  my  fur  cap,  and  after  many  unsuccessful  efforts  I 
managed  at  last  to  ignite  it.  With  this  we  started  a  fire,  and 
then  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  tear  off  a  portion  from  my 
drawers,  which  I  partially  burned,  thus  securing  a  good  sup- 
ply of  tinder  for  future  use.  Before  going  to  sleep  we  col- 
lected fuel  enough  to  last  until  daylight,  with  which  we  occa- 
sionally replenished  the  fire  so  that  we  passed  the  night  in 
tolerable  comfort. 


Times  in  Texas. 

The  next  morning  Brown,  who  as  I  have  previously  stated, 
had  pulled  off  his  coat  and  shoes  and  thrown  them  away 
when  he  swam  the  river,  found  himself  so  sore  and  crippled 
he  was  unable  to  travel.  The  prairie  we  had  passed  over  the 
day  before,  had  been  recently  burned  off  and  the  sharp 
points  of  the  stubble  had  lacerated  his  naked  feet  dreadfully. 
It  was  evident  he  could  not  go  on  without  some  sort  of  cov- 
ering for  his  feet.  I  cut  off  the  legs  of  my  boots,  and  with  a 
pair  of  scissors  which  he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket, 
and  some  twine,  I  contrived  to  make  him  a  pair  of  sandals, 
such  as  I  had  seen  worn  by  Mexican  soldiers.  After  thus 
shoeing  him  (by  way  of  remuneration,  I  suppose,)  Brown  sep- 
arated the  two  blades  of  the  scissors  and  gave  me  one  of 
them,  which  was  of  great  service  to  me,  for  by  whetting  it  on 
stones  I  gave  it  an  edge,  and  it  answered  pretty  well  in  place 
of  a  knife. 

The  grove  of  timber  in  which  we  had  passed  the  night, 
covered  perhaps  an  acre  of  ground,  and  just  outside  of  it 
there  was  a  strip  of  sandy  soil  almost  bare  of  grass.  In  the 
morning  when  we  left  the  grove  we  observed  a  good  many 
fresh  mocassin  tracks  which  must  have  been  made  during  the 
night  by  a  party  of  Indians,  who  probably  had  been  drawn 
to  the  locality  by  the  light  from  our  fire.  Why  they  did  not 
attack  us  I  cannot  imagine,  unless  it  was  because  they  were 
ignorant  of  our  number  and  that  we  were  without  arms.  At 
any  rate,  but  for  their  tracks  in  the  sand  we  would  not  have 
known  they  had  been  around  our  camp  during  the  night. 

The  next  morning  we  set  out,  as  we  supposed,  in  the  direc- 
tion we  had  traveled  the  day  before,  and  in  about  one  hour 
we  came  to  some  timber,  bordering  upon  what  I  thought  was 
one  of  the  branches  of  the  Coletto  creek.  Here  we  laid 
ourselves  down  on  the  grass  to  rest  for  a  few  moments,  and 
scarcely  had  we  done  so  when  a  party  of  ten  Mexican  lan- 
cers made  their  appearance,  riding  along  a  trail  that  ran 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  63 

within  fifty  yards  of  where  we  were  lying.  As  luck  would 
have  it,  just  as  they  came  opposite  to  where  we  were,  they 
met  another  soldier  and  stopped  to  have  a  talk  with  him.  For 
nearly  an  hour,  it  seemed  to  me,  but  in  fact,  I  suppose,  for 
only  a  few  minutes,  they  sat  on  their  horses  conversing  to- 
gether within  a  few  paces  of  where  we  were  lying,  and  without 
a  single  bush  or  tree  intervening  to  hide  us  from  their  view, 
but  fortunately  they  never  looked  toward  us  or  we  would  in- 
evitably have  been  discovered.  At  length  they  rode  on,  and 
we  were  very  glad  when  we  lost  sight  of  them  behind  a  point 
of  timber. 

The  weather  still  continued  cloudy  and  drizzly,  and  not 
being  able  to  see  the  sun  we  had  nothing  to  guide  us,  and  in 
consequence  were  doubtful  as  to  whether  or  not  we  were  pur- 
suing the  right  course.  However,  we  traveled  on  until  night, 
and  again  encamped  in  a  thick  grove  of  timber.  Having 
eaten  nothing  since  we  left  Goliad,  and  only  a  small  piece  of 
beef  for  two  days  previously,  we  had  begun  to  suffer  severely 
from  the  pangs  of  hunger.  Game  we  had  everywhere  seen  in 
the  greatest  abundance,  but  having  no  guns,  the  sight  of 
herds  of  deer  and  flocks  of  wild  turkeys,  suggestive  as  they 
were  to  our  minds  of  juicy  steaks  and  roasts,  only  served  to 
aggravate  the  cravings  of  our  appetite.  It  was  at  a  season 
of  the  year,  too,  when  no  berries  or  wild  fruits  were  to  be 
found,  and  the  pecans  and  other  nuts  had  fallen  and  been 
destroyed  by  wild  hogs,  deer  and  other  animals.  But  in 
spite  of  our  hunger  we  slept  pretty  well  on  our  beds  of  dry 
leaves,  except  that  we  were  occasionally  aroused  from  our 
slumbers  by  the  howling  of  wolves,  which  were  sometimes  so 
impudent1  as  to  approach  within  a  few  paces  of  the  fire  about 
which  we  were  lying. 

In  the  morning  the  weather  was  still  cloudy  and  cold,  and 
we  set  out  again  upon  our  travels.  Holliday  being  by  several 
years  the  oldest  of  our  party,  had  heretofore  taken  the  lead 


c-l  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

to  which  Brown  and  I  had  made  no  opposition,  but  after  an 
hour  or  so  I  was  convinced  he  was  leading  us  in  the  wrong 
direction,  and  in  this  opinion  I  was  confirmed  when  in  a  little 
while  we  came  to  a  creek  I  was  pretty  sure  was  the  Manahui- 
la,  the  same  we  had  crossed  the  day  after  leaving  Goliad.  I 
told  Holliday  I  was  confident  he  was  taking  the  back  track, 
but  he  thought  not,  and  so  we  kept  on  until  toward  evening, 
when  we  came  to  several  groves  of  live  oak  timber  which  I 
remembered  having  seen  when  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  Go- 
liad. Holliday,  however,  had  but  little  faith  in  my  recollec- 
tions of  the  locality,  and  proposed  that  Brown  and  myself 
should  wait  in  one  of  these  groves  until  he  reconnoitered  the 
country  ahead,  and  we  consented  to  do  so. 

In  about  an  hour  he  returned  and  told  us  that  he  had 
been  in  sight  of  Goliad,  and  that  he  had  ditinctly  heard  the 
beating  of  drums  and  the  bugle  calls  of  cavalry  in  the  town. 
We  felt  very  much  discouraged,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  to 
find  ourselves,  after  traveling  so  long,  almost  at  the  same 
point  we  had  started  from;  but  it  was  useless  to  repine,  and 
we  set  out  again  in  the  right  direction,  Holliday,  as  usual, 
leading  the  way.  After  an  hour  or  so  I  found  that  Holliday 
was  gradually  turning  his  course  toward  Goliad  again.  Time 
with  us  was  too  precious  to  be  wasted.  I  came  to  a  halt  and 
told  Holliday  I  would  follow  him  no  farther.  He  insisted  he 
was  going  the  right  direction,  and  I  as  positively  that  he  was 
going  directly  contrary  to  the  course  we  ought  to  pursue. 
He  was  obstinate,  and  so  was  I.  Holliday,  I  knew,  had  been 
born  and  raised  in  a  city  whilst  I  had  lived  the  greater  part 
of  my  life  on  the  frontier,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
woods  ever  since  I  was  old  enough  to  carry  a  gun.v  Besides, 
I  knew  that  I  possessed  to  a  considerable  degree  what  fron- 
tiersmen call  "hog-knowledge,"  by  which  is  meant  a  kind  of 
instinctive  knowledge  that  enables  some  people  to  steer  their 
way  through  pathless  woods  and  prairies  without  a  compass 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  65 

or  any  landmarks  to  guide  them.  I  therefore  told  Holliday, 
if  he  persisted  in  traveling  in  the  direction  he  was  going,  we 
would  certainly  have  to  part  company,  although  I  was  very 
loath  to  do  so  under  the  circumstances.  Thereupon  and  with- 
out further  parley  I  turned  and  took  the  opposite  course  to 
the  one  we  had  been  traveling.  Brown,  who  made  no  pre- 
tensions to  being  a  woodman,  followed  me,  for  the  reason,  I 
suppose,  that  he  had  lost  confidence  in  Holliday  as  a  guide, 
and  thought  possibly  I  might  do  better.  Holliday  remained 
standing  where  we  had  left  him,  apparently  undetermined 
what  to  do,  until  we  had  gone  perhaps  a  hundred  yards,  when 
he  turned  and  followed  us.  As  he  came  up  he  merely  said 
that  he  would  rather  go  wrong  than  part  company,  and  no 
allusion  afterwards  was  made  to  the  subject, — but  from  that 
time  on  I  always  took  the  lead  as  a  matter  of  course, 

Recrossing  the  Manahuila  creek,  and  night  coming  on 
shortly  afterwards,  we  encamped  by  the  side  of  a  pool  of  wa- 
ter in  a  thick  "island"  of  timber.  By  this  time  we  were  suf- 
fering greatly  with  hunger,  nevertheless  I  slept  soundly 
through  the  night,  although  in  my  slumbers  I  was  constantly 
tantalized  by  dreams  of  juicy  steaks,  hot  biscuits  and  butter, 
etc.,  which  always  mysteriously  disappeared  when  I  attempted 
to  "grab"  them. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

SUFFERING  FROM  HUNGER— "  TURKS  HEADS  "  A  SUB- 
STITUTE FOR  WATER— REACH  THE  GUADALUPE  RIVER— UN- 
SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT  TO  GET  VEAL  STEAKS,  BUT  CAUGHT 

THE  PlGS    AND  ATE    FlVE    FOR    SUPPER—  INDIANS— MEXICAN 

LION. 

The  next  morning  we  again  took  our  course  across  the 
prairie,  but  owing  to  the  rank  growth  of  grass  with  which  in 
many  parts  it  was  covered,  and  our  increasing  weakness,  our 
progress  was  slow  and  painful.  On  the  way,  Holliday  found 
about  a  dozen  wild  onions,  which  he  divided  with  Brown  and 
myself;  but  the  quantity  for  each  was  so  small  that  it  seemed 
only  to  aggravate  the  pangs  of  hunger.  During  the  day,  we 
saw  in  the  distance  several  parties  of  Mexicans  or  Indians, 
we  could  not  tell  which,  as  they  only  came  near  enough  for 
us  to  see  that  they  were  men  on  horseback. 

That  night  we  again  encamped  in  a  strip  of  woods  border- 
ing a  small  creek,  but  we  slept  very  little  on  account  of  our 
sufferings  from  hunger,  which  had  now  become  excrutiating. 
The  next  morning  Brown  was  so  weak  he  could  scarcely 
walk  two  hundred  yards  without  stopping  to  rest,  neverthe- 
less we  went  on  as  fast  as  we  could  travel.  A  part  of  the  way 
was  over  high  rolling  prairie,  on  which  no  water  could  be 
found,  and  the  pangs  of  thirst  were  added  to  those  of  hunger, 
until  alleviated  by  the  juice  of  some  "Turks  heads"  which 
we  found  growing  on  the  top  of  a  pebbly  knoll.  These  plants 
are,  I  believe,  a  species  of  the  cactus,  about  the  size  of  a 
large  turnip,  grow  on  top  of  the  ground,  and  are  protected  on 
the  outside  by  a  number  of  tough,  horny  prickles.  The  in- 
side is  filled  with  a  spongy  substance,  which  when  pressed 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  67 

yields  a  quantity  of  tasteless  juice  that  answers  as  a  tolerable 
substitute  for  water. 

The  evening  of  the  fifth  day  after  leaving  Goliad,  we  de- 
scried a  long  line  of  timber  ahead  of  us,  and  just  before  sun- 
set we  came  to  a  large  stream,  which  from  my  knowledge  of 
the  geography  of  the  country  I  was  sure  must  be  the  Guada- 
lupe.  At  the  point  where  we  struck  it,  the  prairie  extended 
up  to  the  bank,  which  was  high  and  very  steep.  A  few  hun- 
dred yards  above  us  we  saw  a  cow  and  her  calf  grazing  near 
the  edge  of  the  bluff,  and  approaching  them  cautiously  we 
attempted  to  drive  them  over  it,  hoping  that  one  or  the  other 
would  be  disabled  or  killed  by  the  fall,  but  after  several  in- 
effectual efforts  to  force  them  to  take  the  leap,  they  finally 
broke  through  our  line  and  made  their  way^to  the  prairie, 
taking  with  them  some  steaks  we  stood  very  much  in  need  of. 

Completely  exhausted  by  our  exertions,  and  suffering  ex- 
tremely from  hunger,  we  looked  around  for  a  suitable  place 
to  camp,  as  it  was  now  nearly  night,  and  coming  to  a  pit  or 
sink  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  deep,  which  would  protect  us 
from  the  cold  wind  blowing  at  the  time,  we  built  a  fire  at  the 
bottom,  laid  down  upon  the  leaves,  and  in  a  little  while  we 
all  went  to  sleep.  How  long  I  had  slept  I  do  not  know,  but 
I  was  at  length  aroused  from  my  slumbers  by  a  rattling 
among  the  sticks  and  dry  leaves  above  me,  and  looking  up  I 
discovered  a  wild  sow  with  her  litter  of  pigs  coming  down 
the  almost  perpendicular  bank  of  the  sink.  I  silently  grasped 
a  billet  of  wood  lying  near  me,  and  awaited  their  approach. 
The  old  sow  came  on,  totally  unsuspicious  that  three  raven- 
ous chaps  were  occupying  her  bed  at  the  bottom  (for  by  this 
time  our  fire  had  burnt  out),  and  when  she  and  her  pigs  were 
in  striking  distance  I  suddenly  sprang  up  and  began  a  vigor- 
ous assault  upon  the  pigs.  The  noise  aroused  Brown  and 
Holliday,  and  comprehending  at  once  the  state  of  affairs 
they  sprang  to  my  assistance,  and  before  the  sow  and  her 


Early  Times  in  Texas. 

pigs  could  make  their  escape  up  the  steep  sides  of  the  pit  we 
had  "bagged  "  five  of  the  latter.  We  made  a  desperate  at- 
tack on  the  old  sow  also,  but  weak  as  we  were  from  starva- 
tion, and  with  our  inefficient  weapons,  she  routed  us  com- 
pletely, leaving  us  however  in  possession  of  the  field  and  the 
"spoils  of  war."  ,We  immediately  started  our  fire  again,  and 
with  no  other  preparation  than  a  slight  roasting  on  the  coals, 
enough  to  singe  off  their  hair,  we  very  expediously  disposed 
of  the  five  pigs  we  had  killed — nearly  a  pig  and  a  half  for 
each  one,  but  then  you  must  remember  that  they  were  small 
sucking  pigs,  and  that  we  had  not  had  a  mouthful  to  eat  for 
five  days  except  a  handful  of  wild  onions.  Greatly  refreshed 
by  our  supper  of  scorched  pig,  we  laid  down  again  upon  the 
leaves  at  the  bottom  of  the  sink,  and  slept  soundly  until  the 
sun  was  an  hour  or  so  high. 

As  soon  as  we  awoke,  we  left  the  sink  and  went  out  to 
make  a  reconnoisance  of  the  river,  to  see  what  the  chances 
were  for  crossing  it.  Though  not  very  wide  at  that  point, 
we  soon  perceived  we  had  a  difficult  job  to  undertake,  for  the 
river  was  much  swollen  by  recent  rains,  and  its  turbid  waters 
were  rushing  along  at  a  rapid  rate.  Holliday  and  I  were 
both  good  swimmers,  and  I  felt  sure  we  could  reach  the  op- 
posite bank  safely;  but  I  had  my  doubts  about  Brown.  He 
was  a  poor  swimmer,  and  consequently  was  timid  in  water. 
However,  there  was  no  alternative  but  to  make  the  attempt, 
and  we  therefore  stripped  off  our  clothes,  tied  them  in  a 
bundle  on  our  heads  to  keep  them  as  dry  as  possible,  and 
plunged  in  the  turbid  flood.  Holliday  and  I  soon  reached 
the  opposite  bank,  but  hardly  had  we  done  so  when  I  heard 
Brown  cry  out  for  help,  and' looking  back  I  saw  that  he  was 
still  some  distance  from  the  shore,  and  evidently  just  on  the 
eve  of  going  under.  At  the  very  point  where  I  landed  there 
happened  to  be  a  slab  of  dry  timber  lying  near  the  water, 
which  I  instantly  seized,  and  swimming  with  it  to  the  place 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  69 

where  Brown  was  struggling  to  keep  his  head  above  the  sur- 
face, I  pushed  the  end  of  the  slab  to  him,  which  he  grasped 
and  to  which  he  held  on  with  the  usual  tenacity  of  a  drown- 
ing man,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Holliday  I  at  last  got  him 
to  the  shore  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  water.  It  was  very 
fortunate  for  Brown  that  Holliday  and  I,  between  us,  had 
taken  his  clothes,  as  otherwise  no  doubt  he  would^have  lost 
them  all. 

Continuing  our  course,  we  passed  through  a  heavily'tim- 
bered  bottom  more  than  a  mile  wide,  and  then  came  to  a 
large  prairie  in  which  we  saw  many  herds  of  deer  and  some 
antelopes.  The  antelope  is  a  beautiful  animal  about  the  size 
of  a  deer,  but  much  more  fleet.  They  do  not  run  as  deer  do, 
by  springs  or  bounds,  but  evenly,  like  the  horse.  Their 
horns  consist  of  two  curved  shafts,  with  a  single  prong  to 
each.  A  man  on  a  good  saddle  horse  can  easily  overtake  a 
fat  deer  on  the  prairie,  but  it  would  require  a  thorough  bred 
racer  with  a  light  rider  to  come  up  with  an  antelope. 

We  also  saw  to-day  a  party  of  Indians  on  horses,  but  we 
eluded  them  by  concealing  ourselves  in  some  tall  grass  that 
grew  in  the  bottom  of  a  ravine.  About  dusk  we  came  to  the 
timber  on  the  farther  side  of  the  prairie,  in  which  we  en- 
camped under  the  spreading  branches  of  a  live  oak  tree. 

Next  morning  we  continued  our  route,  and  after  passing 
through  some  open  post  oak  woods,  we  came  to  a  small 
stream  not  more  than  knee  deep,  and  of  course  easily  forded. 
Crossing  this  stream,  we  went  through  more  post  oak  woods, 
and  then  entered  another  large  prairie,  and  it  was  late  in  the 
evening,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  making  our  way  through 
tall  and  tangled  grass,  before  we  reached  the  timber  on  the 
opposite  side,  where  we  encamped  in  a  little  open  space  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  growth  of  underwood.  Here  we  made  a 
fire,  and  slept  soundly  till  morning. 

As  soon  as  daylight  appeared  we  were  off  again,  and  pass- 


-,«  }•;< //•///   Times  iu 

ing  through  a  skirt  of  woods  we  came  to  another  small  stream, 
which  was  also  fordable.  Crossing  it,  we  entered  a  large 
prairie,  on  the  opposite  side  of  which  a  long  line  of  timber 
was  dimly  visible  in  the  distance.  All  day  long,  stopping 
occasionally  to  rest,  we  toiled  through  the  matted  grass 
with  which  this  prairie  was  covered,  and  just  at  sunset  we 
came  to  the  woods  we  had  seen,  where  we  encamped  near  a 
pool  of  water.  Whilst  collecting  a  supply  of  fuel  for  the 
night,  I  came  upon  a  heap  of  brush  and  leaves,  and  scraping 
off  the  top  to  see  what  was  beneath,  I  discovered  about  half 
the  carcass  of  a  deer  which  apparently  had  been  recently 
killed  and  partly  eaten  by  a  panther  or  Mexican  lion,  and  the 
remainder  "cached"  in  this  heap  for  future  use.  Of  course, 
under  the  circumstances,  I  had  no  scruples  about  appropriat- 
ing the  venison,  and  calling  Brown  and  Holliday  to  my  as- 
sistance we  carried  it  to  camp,  where,  after  cutting  off  the 
ragged  and  torn  portions  of  the  meat,  we  soon  had  the  bal- 
ance spitted  before  a  blazing  fire.  After  making  a  hearty 
supper  on  our  stolen  venison,  we  raked  a  quantity  of  dry 
leaves  close  to  the  fire  and  "turned  into  bed." 

During  the  night,  at  various  times,  we  heard  the  roaring  of 
a  Mexican  lion  (very  probably  the  lawful  owner  of  the  larder 
that  had  supplied  us  with  supper),  and  for  fear  he  might  be 
disposed  to  make  a  meal  of  one  of  us  in  place  of  venison,  we 
took  good  care  not  to  let  our  fire  burn  down  too  low.  There 
is  no  animal,  I  believe,  on  the  American  continent,  with  the 
exception  of  the  grizzly  bear,  that  has  ever  been  known  to  at- 
tack a  man  sleeping  near  a  fire.  The  Mexican  lion  is,  I  think, 
described  in  books  of  natural  history  under  the  name  of  puma 
or  South  American  lion.  They  are  of  a  tawny  or  dun  color, 
about  the  size  of  the  East  Indian  tiger,  have  a  large  round 
head  and  a  short  mane  upon  the  neck.  Their  nails  are  very 
long,  sharp  and  crooked — coming  to  an  edge  on  the  inner 
side— as  keen  as  that  of  a  knife.  Their  roar  is  very  similar 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  71 

to  that  of  the  African  lion.  They  are  fierce  and  strong,  but 
cowardly;  although  when  pressed  by  hunger,  they  have  been 
known  to  attack  men  in  open  daylight.  One  instance  of  this 
comes  within  my  own  knowledge.  Several  teamsters,  with 
their  wagons,  were  traveling  the  road  from  San  Antonio  to 
Victoria,  and  a  teamster  needing  a  staff  for  his  ox  whip,  went 
to  a  thicket  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards  from  the  road  to  cut 
one;  whilst  occupied  in  cutting  down  a  small  sapling  with  his 
pocket  knife,  a  Mexican  lion  stealthily  crawled  up  behind 
him  and  sprang  upon  him  before  he  was  aware  of  its  pres- 
ence. The  man's  cries  for  help  were  heard  by  one  of 
the  teamsters,  who  hurried  to  his  assistance.  The  only  thing 
he  had  in  the  shape  of  a  weapon  was  his  ox  whip,  but  with 
that  he  boldly  attacked  the  lion,  which,  frightened  by  his  ap- 
proach and  the  loud  popping  of  the  whip,  let  go  its  prey  and 
made  a  rapid  retreat,  but  the  poor  fellow  he  had  caught  was 
dreadfully  bitten  and  torn,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  his 
wounds  were  healed.  The  Mexican  lion  is  now  rarely  seen 
in  Texas  except  among  the  dense  chapparals  between  the 
Nueces  and  Rio  Grande  rivers. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  LAVACA  RIVER — MEXICAN  MARAUDERS — BROWN  AND  MY- 
SELF TEMPORARILY  CAPTURED — ATTEMPT  TO  ESCAPE — I  SUC- 
CEED BUT  BROWN  is  RECAPTURED — I  PASS  A  LONELY  NIGHT 
IN  THE  LAVACA  BOTTOM— TAKE  THE  PRAIRIE  AGAIN  SOLITARY 
AND  ALONE — SLEEP  ONCE  MORE  UNDER  A  ROOT. 

As  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light  we  again  started,  and  passing 
through  a  heavily  timbered  bottom,  came  to  the  Lavaca  or 
Cow  river,  a  small  stream  about  thirty  yards  wide  where  we 
struck  it.  In  going  through  the  bottom  we  noticed  several 
piles  of  rails  and  some  clapboards,  the  first  indications  we 
had  seen  of  settlements  since  we  left  Goliad.  We  also  saw  a 
drove  of  hogs  in  the  bottom,  which  confirmed  us  in  the  opin- 
ion that  there  had  been  an  American  settlement  somewhere 
in  the  vicinity.  These  hogs  were  of  the  genuine  "razorback" 
species,  and  as  wild  and  fleet  as  deer;  consequently,  although 
our  hunger  was  almost  as  pressing  as  ever,  we  did  not  care 
to  exhaust  our  strength  in  what  we  knew  would  be  a  hopeless 
attempt  to  capture  one  of  them. 

K  We  swam  the  river  without  difficulty,  and  stopped  an  hour 
or  so  on  the  bank  to  rest  ourselves  and  dry  our  clothes.  We 
then  went  on,  but  as  the  bottom  on  that  side  was  very  wide, 
and  the  day  being  cloudy,  we  lost  our  way  and  it  was  nearly 
sunset  when  we  reached  the  open  prairie.  A  few  hundred 
yards  below  where  we  came  out  of  the  timber  we  observed 
ten  or  a  dozen  horses  "staked,"  and,  on  approaching  them, 
we  heard  people  talking  in  the  woods  near  by.  I  advised  an 
immediate  retreat  from  the  locality,  but  for  some  reason  Hol- 
liday  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  horses  belonged  to  a 
company  of  Texan  scouts,  and  proposed  that  we  conceal  our- 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  73 

selves  in  a  clump  onrushes  from  whence  we  could  see  any 
one  who  might  come  to  look  after  them  and  thus  satisfy  our- 
selves without  running  any  risk  as  to  whether  the  owners  were 
Americans  or  Mexicans.  Holliday's  counsel  prevailed,  and 
Brown  and  I  hid  ourselves  in  a  small  bunch  of  bushes  and 
Holliday  in  another.  A  dog  which  was  at  the  camp,  all  this 
time  kept  up  an  incessant  barking,  and  probably  it  aroused 
the  suspicions  of  the  owners  that  some  one  was  trying  to  steal 
their  horses;  at  any  rate,  in  a  few  moments  after  we  had  hid- 
den ourselves,  a  strapping  "ranchero"  came  out  of  the  tim- 
ber, and  when  he  had  looked  to  see  if  the  horses  had  been 
disturbed  in  any  way,  he  came  as  straight  as  he  could  walk 
to  the  bunch  of  bushes  in  which  Brown  and  myself  had  taken 
our  position  and  was  just  on  the  eve  of  entering  it  when  he 
saw  us.  He  instantly  sprang  back  exclaiming,  "Hey!  Amer- 
icanos! What  are  you  doing  here?  Do  you  want  to  steal  our 
horses?"  He  then  made  signs  for  us  to  follow  him,  which'we 
did,  knowing  that  resistance,  weak  as  we  were  and  without 
arms,  would  be  useless,  and  that  one  shout  from  the  ranchero 
would  bring  those  in  camp  to  his  assistance.  Holliday,  as  I 
have  said,  was  concealed  in  a  separate  clump  of  bushes,  and, 
keeping  quiet,  the  ranchero  did  not  discover  him.  Brown 
and  I  got  up  and  followed  him,  but  I  was  fully  determined 
from  the  start  not  to  follow  him  as  far  as  his  camp.  I  saw 
that  his  course  would  take  him  very  close  at  one  point  to  the 
timbered  bottom,  and  as  we  went  along  Brown  and  I  agreed 
upon  a  plan  to  escape  from  our  captor,  which  was  to  follow 
him  quietly  until  near  the  timber,  and  then  suddenly  "break 
ranks"  and  get  under  cover  as  speedily  as  possible.  Then 
we  were  to  take  different  directions  and  meet  at  the  same 
place  the  next  morning.  The  ranchero,  although  he  could 
plainly  see  that  Brown  and  I  were  unarmed,  kept  some  paces 
ahead  of  us  all  the  time,  every  now  and  then  looking  back  to 
see  if  we  were  following.  Before  Brown  and  I  separated  I 

5 


74  Kuril/   Tinirx  in   Texas. 

told  him  I  would  meet  him  at  the  Mexican  camp  the  next 
morning,  as  it  was  probable  they  would  leave  it  before  we 
could  return  there. 

In  pursuance  of  our  plan,  as  soon  as  we  came  very  close  to 
the  edge  of  the  timber,  we  suddenly  left  our  ranchero  with- 
out even  saying  "adios,"  and  in  a  moment  we  were  hidden 
from  his  sight  by  the  dense  undergrowth.  When  we  thus  so 
unceremoniously  left  our  new  acquaintance  we  were  so  near 
the  camp  that  we  could  plainly  hear  the  rancheros  convers- 
ing with  each  other,  and  the  moment  we  made  a  "break"  our 
escort  shouted  to  his  companions  to  hasten  to  his  assistance. 
"Here  are  Americans,  come  quick  and  bring  your  guns,"  but 
just  at  this  juncture  Brown  and  I  had  some  little  matters  of 
our  own  that  required  immediate  despatch,  and  we  did  not 
wait  for  the  Mexicans  "to  come  and  bring  their  guns  with 
them."  Brown  went  one  way  and  I  another  as  soon  as  we 
entered  the  timber,  and  I  never  saw  him  again  until  several 
weeks  afterwards  when  he  came  to  the  army  on  the  Brazos. 

The  sun  had  just  set  when  we  entered  the  timber,  and  night 
soon  set  in  dark  and  cloudy.  After  going  perhaps  a  mile,  I 
concluded  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  Mexicans  to  find 
me  and  I  pitched  jny  camp,  which  was  speedily  done  by 
pitching  myself  on  the  ground  at  the  foo;  of  a  tree  on  which 
there  was  a  thick  growth  of  Spanish  moss,  that  served  to  pro- 
tect me  in  a  measure  from  a  drizzling  rain  that  commenced 
falling.  I  did  not  dare  to  start  a  fire  for  fear  the  light  from 
it  might  bring  the  Mexicans  to  the  locality,  should  they  be  in 
pursuit. 

I  had  never  felt  so  despondent  since  making  my  escape 
from  Goliad  as  I  did  that  night.  My  separation  from  my 
companions,  my  uncertainty  as  to  their  fate,  the  thought  of 
my  helpless  situation,  without  arms  of  any  kind  to  protect 
myself  against  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts  and  still  more  mer- 
ciless Mexicans  and  Indians,  together  with  the  mournful 


Adventures  of  Jack  Ddbell.  75 

howling  of  wolves  in  the  distance,  all  conspired  to  fill  my 
mind  with  gloomy  forebodings  and  anticipations.  However, 
notwithstanding  such  unpleasant  thoughts.and  surroundings, 
I  soon  fell  asleep  and  slept  soundly  until  morning. 

When  I  awoke  day  was  beginning  to  break,  birds  were  sing- 
ing and  squirrels  chattering  in  the  trees.  The  rain  had  ceas- 
ed, and  after  brushing  off  the  damp  leaves  that  adhered  to  my 
clothes,  my  toilet  was  made,  and  I  started  back  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  place  where  Brown  and  I  had  separated.  I  came 
out  of  the  bottom  very  near  the  place  where  I  had  entered  it 
the  evening  before,  but  no  living  thing  was  visible  on  the 
prairie  as  far  as  I  could  see,  except  some  herds  of  deer  and 
a  flock  of  wild  turkeys.  I  proceeded  cautiously  along  the 
edge  of  the  timber  until  I  came  to  where  the  Mexicans  had 
staked  their  horses.  They  were  gone,  and  hearing  no  sounds 
from  the  woods  in  which  they  had  camped,  I  ventured  in  to 
reconnoitre.  Their  fires  were  still  burning,  but  the  camp  was 
deserted  and  thereVas  nothing  left  to  indicate  the  probable 
fate  of  my  companions. 

I  was  exceedingly  hungry,  and  I  searched  the  camp  close- 
ly, hoping  the  Mexicans  might  have  forgotten  some  remnant 
of  their  provisions  when  they  went  off,  but  I  found  no  ves- 
tiges of  eatables  of  any  kind  except  a  few  egg  shells.  Leaving 
the  camp,  I  returned  to  the  prairie  and  traveled  up'and  down 
the  timber  above  and  below  it  for  several  miles  hoping  to  meet 
with  one  or  the  other  of  my  companions.  I  continued  my 
search  for  them  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  having  aban- 
doned all  hopes  of  finding  them,  1  struck  out  across  the  prai- 
rie in  the  direction  I  intended  going.  Before  I  had  gone  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  I  happened  to  look  back  towards  the  river 
and  saw  a  house  that  had  been  hidden  from  my  view,  when 
searching  for  my  companions,  by  a  strip  of  timber.  As  I  was 
suffering  much  from  hunger,  I  concluded  to  return  and  make 


70  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

an  examination  of  this  house  and   premises,  hoping  I  might 
find  something  to  eat. 

I  approached  the  house  cautiously  for  fear  it  might  be  occu- 
pied by  a  marauding  party  of  Mexicans,  but  seeing  nothing 
to  excite  my  suspicions,  I  ventured  up.  Everything  about 
the  house— furniture  broken  and  strewn  in  fragments  over  the 
floor,  beds  ripped  open  and  their  contents  scattered  around, 
plainly  indicated  that  it  had  been  visited  by  some  plundering 
band  of  rancheros  or  Indians.  However,  in  an  outhouse 
near  the  main  building,  I  found  a  piece  of  bacon  and  four  or 
five  ears  of  corn.  The  corn,  I  ground  upon  a  steel  mill  that 
was  fastened  to  a  post  in  the  yard,  and  starting  a  fire  in  one 
of  the  chimneys  of  the  main  building,  I  very  soon  prepared  a 
substantial  meal  of  "ask  cake"  and  broiled  bacon,  to  which  I 
paid  my  sincere  respects.  By  this  time  night  had  set  in,  and, 
spreading  some  tattered  bed  clothes  left  in  the  house  upon 
the  floor,  I  slept  comfortably  until  morning. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

UNSUCCESSFUL  SEARCH  FOR  MY  COMPANIONS — BROWN  RE- 
CAPTURED— FINALLY  RELEASED  AND  MAKES  HIS  WAY  SAFE- 
LY TO  THE  ARMY — HOLLIDAY  PURSUED  BY  A  PARTY  OF 
MEXICANS — CAPTURED  BY  TWO  RUNAWAY  NEGROES — THEY 
DETERMINE  TO  KILL  HIM,  BUT  HE  TALKS  THEM  OUT  OF 
THE  NOTION — ARRIVES  SAFELY  AT  COLUMBIA — His  SUBSE- 
QUENT FATE — I  SET  OUT  AGAIN  "SOLITARY  AND  ALONE" — 
TRAILED  BY  INDIANS,  BUT  I  GIVE  THEM  THE  DODGE. 

The  next  morning,  after  making  a  hearty  breakfast  on  ash 
cake  and  bacon,  as  there  was  no  urgent  necessity  for  hurry- 
ing forward,  I  concluded  I  would  make  another  attempt  to 
find  my  companions,  and  I  again  traveled  for  several  miles 
above  and  below,  along  the  edge  of  the  timber,  but  seeing 
nothing  of  them  I  at  length  became  satisfied  that  they  had 
been  captured  by  the  Mexicans,  or  had  gone  on  without 
waiting  for  me.  The  facts  were,  however,  as  I  afterwards 
learned  from  both  of  them  when  I  subsequently  met  them  on 
the  Brazos,  about  as  follows:  After  Brown  and  I  broke  away 
from  the  ranchero  and  went  off  in  different  directions,  he 
pursued  Brown,  came  up  with  him  and  took  him  back  to  the 
camp.  There  they  tied  him  securely  to  a  tree,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded leisurely  to  cook  and  eat  their  supper.  Brown,  who 
could  speak  a  little  Spanish,  told  them  he  was  starving  and 
begged  them  to  give  him  something  to  eat,  but  they  said  it 
was  useless  to  do  so  as  they  intended  to  shoot  him  in  the 
morning.  He  then  told  them  if  such  was  their  intention  to 
shoot  him  at  once  and  not  keep  him  tied  up  to  a  tree  like  a 
dog  all  night,  but  the  Mexicans  paid  no  attention  to  his  re- 
quest and  when  they  had  finished  their  supper,  they  laid  down 


7\  K,irli/  Times  in  Texas. 

upon  their  blankets  and  went  to  sleep.  Brown  tried  his  best 
to  untie  himself,  but  the  ranchero  had  fastened  him  so  se- 
curely to  the  tree  that  he  found  it  impossible  to  get  loose,  and 
was  compelled  to  remain  in  a  standing  position  all  night. 

The  next  morning,  as  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light,  one  of  the 
rancheros  walked  up  to  Brown  and  pinned  a  piece  of  white 
cloth  to  his  breast,  telling  him  it  was  a  mark  for  them  to 
shoot  at.  Four  or  five  rancheros  then  stationed  themselves 
a  few  paces  in  front  of  him,  cocked  their  guns  and  presented 
them  as  if  about  to  shoot.  All  this  time,  Brown,  who  had 
been  rendered  perfectly  desperate  by  pain  and  hunger,  was 
cursing  the  Mexicans  as  much  as  his  imperfect  knowlege  of 
the  language  would  permit.  He  told  them  they  were  a  set 
of  cowardly  scoundrels,  and  that  the  bravest  feat  they  had 
ever  performed  was  the  murder  of  unarmed  and  helpless 
prisoners,  and  so  on.  Brown  said  he  was  suffering  and  had 
suffered  so  excruciatingly  from  pain  and  hunger  all  night  that 
he  really  wanted  the  Mexicans  to  shoot  him  and  put  him  out 
of  his  misery,  but  they  seemed  much  astonished  at  his  bold- 
ness and  sang  froid,  and  the  one  in  command  of  the  party 
came  to  where  he  was  tied,  cut  the  ropes  and  told  him  to  go, 
that  he  was  "muy  bravo"  (very  brave),  and  that  in  place  of 
shooting  him  they  would  leave  him  to  perish  of  hunger. 
Then  they  saddled  their  horses  and  mounting  them  rode  off. 
Some  days  afterwards  Brown  was  again  captured  by  a  party 
of  Mexicans,  but  in  some  way  he  managed  to  escape  from 
them,  and  finally,  more  by  good  luck  than  anything  else,  for 
he  was  a  poor  woodman,\he  made  his  way  to  the  army  on  the 
Brazos. 

Holliday,  as  I  have  before  stated,  was  not  seen  when  the 
ranchero  captured  Brown  and  myself,  and  as  soon  as  it  was 
dark  he  left  his  hiding  place  and  took  his  course  across  the 
prairie.  Subsequently  he  had  many  narrow  escapes  from 
marauding  parties  of  Mexicans  and  Indians.  On  one  occa- 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  79 

sion  a  party  of  Mexicans  pursued  him  so  closely  that  he  took 
refuge  in  a  lake.  He  waded  on  until  the  water  was  up  to  his 
neck,  when  the  Mexicans  amused  themselves  for  some  time 
by  firing  off  their  scopets  at  his  head,  but  fortunately  for 
Holliday  night  came  on,  and  under  cover  of  the  darkness  he 
skipped  out  and  dodged  his  pursuers. 

Another  time,  two  runaway  negro  men  caught  him  in  a 
house  to  which  he  had  gone  in  search  of  something  to  eat. 
They  asked  him  if  he  was  a  Texan,  and  upon  his  replying  in 
the  affirmative  they  told  him  they  intended  to  kill  him. 
Whereupon  they  tied  him  securely  in  the  room  and  went  out, 
but  in  a  few  moments  returned,  each  one  with  a  heavy  club 
in  his  hand,  and  they  told  him  to  say  his  prayers  speedily,  as 
they  were  going  to  beat  out  his  brains.  Holliday,  however, 
"reasoned"  the  matter  with  them,  telling  them  it  wasn't  fair 
to  kill  him  for  what  other  white  men  might  have  done  to 
them — that  he  had  never  injured  them  in  any  way,  etc.  His 
talk  seemed  to  produce  some  effect  upon  one  of  the  negroes, 
but  the  other  still  insisted  on  killing  him.  Finally,  how- 
ever, the  one  who  was  inclined  to  favor  him  prevailed  upon 
the  other  to  abandon  his  intention  of  beating  out  his  brains, 
and  they  said  they  would  not  kill  him  but  would  take  him  to 
the  camp  of  some  Mexican  guerrillas  near  by.  Holliday 
thought  that  this  would  be  worse  than  "jumping  out  of  the 
frying  pan  into  the  fire;"  that  such  a  proceeding  would  not 
be  better  than  having  his  brains  knocked  out, — and  he  urged 
all  the  arguments  he  could  think  of  against  it.  At  length, 
much  to  Holliday's  relief,  they  agreed  to  let  him  go,  and 
before  they  left  they  not  only  gave  him  provisions,  but  di- 
rections that  enabled  him  to  make  his  way  through  an  un- 
known country  to  the  Texan  army  under  General  Houston. 
He  came  into  Columbia,  on  the  Brazos,  about  ten  days 
after  I  did.  Holliday  was  subsequently  appointed  to  a  cap- 
taincy in  the  Texas  regular  army,  was  again  taken  prisoner 


SO  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

in  the  unfortunate  Santa  Fe  expedition,  carried  to  the  City 
of  Mexico,  and,  after  his  liberation,  died  of  yellow  fever 
on  the  voyage  from  Vera  Cruz  to  New  Orleans,  and  was 
buried  at  sea. 

Giving  up  all  hopes  of  finding  my  companions,  I  started 
out  across  the  large  prairie  that  extended  in  the  direction  I 
was  going  as  far  as  my  eye  could  reach.  The  game  on  this 
prairie  was  more  abundant  than  I  had  seen  it  elsewhere.  I 
am  sure  that  frequently  there  were  a  thousand  deer  in  sight 
at  a  time.  Here,  too,  I  first  saw  the  pinnated  grouse,  or 
prairie  hen.  At  first  I  supposed  the  call  of  the  cock  was  the 
distant  lowing  of  wild  cattle,  some  of  which  were  grazing  on 
the  prairie.  Wild  turkeys  were  also  numerous,  and  so  un- 
used to  the  sight  of  man,  that  they  permitted  me  at  times  to 
approach  within  a  few  paces  of  them. 

During  the  day  I  saw  several  parties  of  Mexicans  or  Indi- 
ans on  horses,  but  they  did  not  come  near  me.  About  three 
o'clock  in  the  evening  I  reached  the  timber  on  the  Navidad, 
where  I  stopped  to  rest  a  while  and  lunch  on  some  of  the 
ash  cake  and  bacon  I  had  brought  along  with  me.  I  then 
proceeded  on  my  course  through  the  bottom,  and  after  going 
probably  half  a  mile  I  came  to  the  Navidad  river,  at  that 
place  thirty  or  forty  yards  wide.  It  was  swollen  by  recent 
rains  and  not  fordable,  so  I  was  compelled  to  swim  it,  which 
I  did  easily,  stripping  of  my  clothes  and  tying  them  on  a  piece 
of  dry  wood,  and  pushing  it  before  me  as  I  swam. 

As  soon  as  I  reached  the  bank  I  dressed  myself  and  con- 
tinued my  course  through  the  bottom,  which  was  much  wider 
on  that  side.  I  had  gone  perhaps  half  a  mile,  when  my  atten- 
tion was  drawn  to  the  continuous  barking  of  a  dog  in  the  di- 
rection from  which  I  had  come.  At  first  I  did  not  notice  it 
particularly,  supposing  it  was  some  dog  left  behind  by  the 
settlers  on  the  Navidad  when  they  fled  from  the  invading 
Mexican  army.  But  at  length  I  observed  that  although  I  was 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  81 

traveling  at  a  pretty  rapid  walk  the  barking  of  this  dog 
seemed  to  be  nearer  and  nearer  to  me,  and  I  supected  he  was 
trailing  me  and  that  probably  there  was  some  one  with  him. 
I  therefore  hurried  on  as  fast  as  possible,  and  in  an  hour  or 
so  came  to  the  open  prairie  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 
All  this  time  I  could  hear  the  baying  of  the  dog  at  apparently 
about  the  same  distance  behind  me  as  when  I  first  noticed  it. 
I  was  sure  then  he  was  trailing  me,  and  never  halted  for  a 
moment,  but  continued  on  my  course  into  the  prairie  for  sev- 
eral hundred  yards  and  then  turned  short  round  and  retraced 
my  steps  to  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where  I  sprang  as  far  as  I 
could  to  one  side  and  went  down  the  edge  of  the  timber 
.about  a  hundred  yards  to  a  fallen  tree,  among  the  limbs  of 
which  I  concealed  myself,  and  from  whence  I  could  have  a 
distinct  view  of  anything  coming  out  of  the  bottom  at  the 
point  I  left  it. 

After  I  had  thus  "holed"  myself,  the  barking  of  the  dog 
grew  louder  and  nearer  every  moment,  and  in  a  little  while  I 
saw  the  dog,  followed  by  three  Indians,  emerge  from  the  tim- 
ber, precisely  at  the  point  where  I  had  left  it.  One  of  the 
Indians  held  the  dog  by  a  leash,  and  was  armed  with  a  gun, 
the  other  two  had  their  bows  and  lances.  If  I  had  been 
armed  with  the  poorest  pot-metal,  muzzle-loading  shot-gun 
that  was  ever  manufactured  at  Birmingham,  I  would  not  have 
feared  them,  but  as  I  had  no  weapon  more  formidable  than 
the  scissor  blade  given  me  by  Brown,  I  "laid  low"  and 
watched  them  from  my  hiding  place.  When  the  Indians  fol- 
lowing the  dog  came  to  the  place  in  the  prairie  from  whence 
I  had  turned  back  on  my  trail,  the  dog  lost  it  of  course,  but 
the  Indians  (taking  it  for  granted,  I  suppose,  that  I  had  gone 
on  in  the  same  direction)  urged  and  led  the  dog  that  way 
until  finally  they  went  out  of  sight.  If  I  had  not  thrown  them 
off  my  trail  in  the  manner  described,  there  is  no  doubt  I 
would  have  lost  my  scalp  on  that  occasion,  and  I  took  con- 


Early  Times  in  Texas. 

siderable  credit  to  myself  for  having  beaten  them  at  their 
own  game. 

I  remained  but  a  little  while  in  the  hiding  place  after  the 
Indians  left.  But  the  course  I  wished  to  travel  was  the  one 
they  had  taken,  and  for  that  reason,  and  because  my  provi- 
sions were  nearly  exhausted,  I  determined  to  keep  up  along 
the  edge  of  the  timber,  hoping  to  find  gome  settlement  and 
replenish  my  larder.  I  followed  up  the  margin  of  the  tim- 
ber for  several  miles,  and  at  length  came  to  a  "clearing,"  on 
the  opposite  side  of  which  I  saw  a  house.  I  cautiously  ad- 
vanced towards  the  house  until  I  was  satisfied  it  was  not  oc- 
cupied, and  that  I  could  venture  up  with  safety.  On  enter- 
ing it  I  found  that  a  marauding  party  of  Mexicans  had  lately 
been  there  and  appropriated  to  their  own  use  whatever  there 
might  have  been  eatable  on  the  premises.  I  searched  the 
house  thoroughly,  but  could  find  nothing  in  the  way  of  "prov- 
ender." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SLEEP  LUXURIOUSLY  IN  A  BED — ROUSED  UP  BY  HOGS — SUC- 
CEED IN  CAPTURING  ONE — MURDER  HIM  IN  COLD  BLOOD 
WITH  A  MAUL — BUTCHER  HIM  WITH  A  PIECE  OF  DRAWING 
KNIFE — MAKE  ANOTHER  START — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT 
TO  STEAL  A  MEXICAN  SOLDIER'S  GUN. 

By  the  time  I  had  finished  my  fruitless  search  for  some- 
thing to  eat  the  sun  was  about  setting,  and  as  there  was  a  bed 
in  the  house,  which  looked  very  inviting  to  me  after  sleeping 
so  long  on  the  ground,  I  concluded  to  accept  the  invitation 
and  pass  the  night  in  it.  After  a  very  frugal  and  unsatisfying 
repast  upon  the  small  remnant  of  ash  cake  and  bacon  in  my 
knapsack,  I  turned  into  my  bed  and  was  soon  fast  asleep. 

It  must  have  been  near  midnight  when  I  was  aroused  by 
some  noise.  I  listened  attentively  and  soon  ascertained  that 
the  noise  was  nothing  but  the  grunting  of  several  hogs  that 
had  taken  up  their  quarters  under  the  house  whilst  I  was 
asleep.  The  house  was  set  upon  blocks,  a  foot  or  so  above 
the  ground  and  the  space  beneath  the  floor  was  therefore  suf- 
ficiently roomy  for  their  accommodation.  The  floor  was 
made  of  puncheons  or  slabs,  which  were  held  in  their  places 
solely  by  their  weight.  Hunger  as  well  as  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention,  and  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  bag 
one  of  these  porkers  by  quietly  lifting  a  puncheon  immedi- 
ately above  the  spot  where  they  were  lying  and  then  quickly 
grabbing  the  first  one  I  could  get  hold  of. 

I  therefore  got  up  from  my  comfortable  bed,  and  after 
listening  awhile  to  their  grunting  so  as  to  ascertain  what  part 
of  the  floor  they  were  under,  I  slowly  and  noiselessly  lifted  a 
slab  above  them  and  laid  it  aside.  Thrusting  my  arm  down 


84  Early  Times  in  Texas 

through  the  opening  I  had  made,  I  felt  around  until  my  hand 
came  in  contact  with  the  leg  of  a  hog,  when  I  suddenly  seized 
it,  and  the  row  began.  I  had  got  hold  of  a  hog  much  too 
large  for  me  to  manage  well,  and  found  it  no  easy  matter  to 
induce  him  to  come  up  into  my  comfortable  quarters.  He 
struggled  vigorously  to  get  loose,  squealing  all  the  while  in 
the  most  ear-piercing  manner,  and  for  some  time  I  thought  it 
very  doubtful  how  the  contest  would  end — whether  I  would 
succeed  in  hauling  the  hog  up  into  the  room,  or  the  hog  in 
dragging  me  under  the  floor.  But  I  knew  if  I  "let  go"  there 
would  be  no  pork  steaks  for  breakfast,  as  the  other  hogs  had 
been  frightened  by  the  squealing  and  struggling,  and  had  left 
for  parts  unknown.  But  the  idea  of  having  no  steak  for 
breakfast  gave  me  more  than  my  usual  strength,  and  at  last, 
but  not  until  he  had  cut  me  severely  with  his  hard  hoofs  and 
rasped  a  good  deal  of  the  skin  off  my  knuckles  against  the 
sharp  edges  of  the  puncheons,  I  drew  him  by  main  "strength 
and  brutality"  into  the  room  and  replaced  the  puncheon.  I 
had  secured  my  hog,  but  how  to  kill  and  butcher  him  was 
the  next  question.  I  had  nothing  to  do  it  with  except  one  of 
the  blades  of  the  little  pair  of  scissors  given  me  by  Brown, 
and  that  I  knew  was  totally  inadequate  for  the  purpose.  I 
could  find  nothing  in  the  room  that  would  do,  so  I  slipped 
out,  carefully  lastening  the  door  after  me,  to  see  if  there  was 
anything  about  the  premises  with  which  I  could  dispatch  the 
porker.  The  moon  was  shining  brightly,  and  I  looked  all 
around  for  something  that  would  enable  me  to  convert  my 
hog  into  pork,  but  could  find  nothing  better  than  a  large 
maul  that  had  been  used  for  splitting  rails,  and  with  this  I 
re-entered  the  room  and  made  a  determined  assault  upon  the 
hog.  The  maul,  however,  was  so  heavy  and  unwieldy  I 
could  not  handle  it  with  sufficient  celerity  to  inflict  a  stun- 
ning blow.  Round  and  round  the  room  we  went  for  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  or  more,  the  hog  squealing  all  the  while  and  his 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  85 

hoofs  clattering  and  rattling  on  the  puncheons  and  making 
altogether  such  a  "racket"  as  might  have  been  heard  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  mile.  At  last,  however,  I  got  a  fair  lick  at 
his  cranium,  which  brought  him  to  the  floor,  where  I  finished 
him  by  continuous  "mauling.'' 

When  the  bloody  deed  had  been  committed,  I  was  so  com- 
pletely exhausted  that  I  tumbled  back  on  the  bed,  was  asleep 
in  a  few  moments,  and  did  not  awake  until  the  sun  was  high 
in  the  heavens.  I  got  up,  and  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to 
drag  my  hog  to  a  spring  near  the  house,  where  I  butchered 
him  after  a  fashion,  with  a  piece  of  broken  drawing  knife  I 
picked  up  in  the  yard.  After  finishing  this  job  I  started  a 
fire,  and  roasted  four  or  five  pounds  of  the  pork  for  breakfast. 
When  I  had  breakfasted,  I  packed  as  much  of  the  pork  as  I 
could  carry  in  my  knapsack,  and  started  up  the  bottom 
again,  keeping  close  to  the  edge  of  the  timber  so  that  I  might 
readily  take  shelter  in  the  event  that  I  should  meet  with  a 
party  of  Mexicans  or  Indians.  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
by  this  time  that  previously  I  had  been  steering  my  course 
too  low  down  the  country,  and  I  thought  it  best  to  keep  up 
the  river  some  distance  before  I  resumed  it  again,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  lagoons  and  swamps  which  I  supposed  abounded  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  coast. 

I  traveled  five  or  six  miles  without  seeing  anything  worthy 
of  note,  and  at  noon  stopped  an  hour  or  so  at  a  pool  of  wa- 
ter to  rest  and  cook  some  of  my  pork,  and  to  "barbacue"  the 
remainder  -so  as  to  prevent  it  from  spoiling.  It  was  late  in 
the  evening  before  I  started  again,  and  about  sunset,  not  find- 
ing another  house,  I  concluded  to  encamp  in  a  point  of  tim- 
bear  near  a  pool  of  water. 

Just  after  I  had  turned  into  a  bed  of  dry  grass  for  the  night, 
I  saw  a  light  spring  up,  apparently  five  or  six  hundred  yards 
above,  on  the  edge  of  the  bottom,  and  I  concluded  to  get  up 
and  see  what  caused  it.  The  moon  had  not  as  yet  made  her 


/v/r///   Tiling  in   Texas. 


appearance,  and  I  thought  I  could  reconnoiter  the  locality 
with  safety,  even  if  the  light  should  prove  to  be  from  the 
camp  fire  of  Mexicans  or  Indians.  Guided  by  the  light, 
which  continued  to  shine  steadily,  I  went  perhaps  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  when  I  saw  that  it  came  from  the  chinks  of  a  small 
log  cabin.  I  approached  it  silently,  and  when  near  it,  I  saw 
there  were  several  other  cabins  near  it,  but  no  lights  were 
visible  in  them.  The  chinks  between  the  logs  of  the  cabin 
in  which  the  light  was  shining  were  all  open,  and  I  carefully 
crept  to  the  side  nearest  me  and  peeped  through  one  of  them. 
I  had  heard  for  some  time  a  queer  kind  of  rasping  sound  pro- 
ceeding from  with  the  cabin,  for  which  I  could  not  account 
until  I  looked  through  the  chink,  and  then  I  saw  a  Mexican 
soldier  sitting  on  the  floor,  shelling  corn  into  a  tub,  which  he 
did  by  rasping  the  ears  on  the  edge.  He  had  on  his  shot 
pouch  and  powder  horn,  but  his  gun  I  noticed  was  leaning 
against  the  wall  next  to  me,  and  as  there  was  an  opening  be- 
tween two  of  the  logs  it  was  leaning  against  wide  enough  to 
shove  my  arm  through,  it  occurred  to  me  that  possibly  I 
might  be  able  to  draw  the  gun  through  this  opening  before 
the  Mexican  was  aware  that  any  one  was  in  the  vicinity,  as 
his  back  was  turned  towards  me.  So  I  reached  in,  seized  the 
gun  cautiously,  near  the  muzzle,  and  began  to  draw  it  slowly 
through  the  chink  between  the  logs.  There  is  no  doubt  I 
would  have  succeeded  in  my  attempt  to  get  the  gun,  but  when 
the  barrel  was  fairly  outside  and  I  felt  sure  I  had  secured  the 
prize,  to  my  great  disappointment  the  breech  was  so  large 
that  it  stuck  hard  and  fast  between  the  logs.  In  my  effort  to 
pull  the  gun  through,  I  unavoidably  made  some  noise  that 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  soldier,  and  he  turned  and  ut- 
tered an  exclamation  of  fear  and  astonishment  when  he  saw 
his  gun  thus  mysteriously  disappearing  through  the  chink  in 
the  cabin,  and  he  instantly  sprang  forward  and  clutched  it  by 
the  breech. 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  87 

The  noise  aroused  three  or  four  dogs  sleeping  near  the 
cabin,  and  they  began  to  bay  me  furiously.  I  was  sure  there 
were  more  Mexican  soldiers  in  the  adjoining  houses,  and 
thinking  I  might  find  a  "  healthier  "  location  than  the  one 
where  I  was,  I  made  off  at  "double  quick"  for  the  bottom, 
closely  pursued  by  the  dogs.  When  I  reached  the  timber,  I 
picked  up  a  club,  turned  upon  the  dogs  and  drove  them  back. 
I  heard  a  good  deal  of  shouting  and  "  carahooing"  at  the 
cabins,  but  as  the  night  was  quite  dark  I  had  no  fear  of  being 
pursued,  and  leisurely  took  my  way  along  the  edge  of  the 
timber.  When  I  had  got  I  suppose  a  mile  from  the  cabins, 
I  went  into  the  timber  and  encamped  in  a  secure  place. 

My  failure  to  get  the  soldier's  gun  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  me.  Every  house  I  had  visited  since  I  struck  the 
settlements,  I  had  searched  closely  for  a  gun,  hoping  that  one 
might  have  been  left  by  the  occupants  when  they  hurriedly 
fled  before  the  invading  army,  but  my  search  was  always 
fruitless.  People  had  abandoned  a  great  deal  of  valuable 
property,  but  whatever  arms  they  had  they  carried  off.  I 
had  an  abundance  of  ammunition,  for  at  one  of  the  houses  I 
had  searched  I  found  powder  and  shot,  which  I  secured,  and 
all  I  lacked  was  a  gun.  I  would  willingly  have  given  all  the 
money  I  had  in  the  world  (amounting  to  seventy-five  cents  in 
specie)  for  the  poorest  pot-metal  gun  that  was  ever  manufac- 
tured, and  taken  the  chances  of  its  bursting  whenever  I 
fired  it. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FOLLOWED  BY  WOLVES— MEXICANS  AND  INDIANS— INDIAN 
CAMP— PASS  THE  NIGHT  THERE— SIGNAL  SMOKES— LOST 
ox  THE  PRAIRIE— TRES  PALACIOS— TRY  MY  HAND  AT  MAN- 
UFACTURING A  Bow. 

Just  at  daylight  I  was  aroused  from  ray  slumbers  by  the 
clucking  and  gobbling  of  wild  turkeys.  I  had  encamped 
very  near  a  large  "  roost,"  and  as  I  made  no  fire  I  had  not 
disturbed  them.  Many  of  the  trees  in  the  vicinity  were  lit- 
erally filled  with  them,  and  they  were  so  tame  I  could  easily 
have  killed  one  with  a  bow  and  arrow  if  I  had  had  them,  and 
I  determined  I  would  try  my  hand  at  manufacturing  these 
primitive  weapons,  if  I  could  find  some  suitable  tool  to  work 
with. 

After  I  had  reconnoitered  from  the  edge  of  the  timber  and 
ascertained  that  there  were  no  Mexicans  in  sight,  I  went  on 
up  the  bottom  three  or  four  miles,  and  then  struck  across  the 
prairie  in  the  direction  I  had  been  traveling.  My  route  was 
through  an  open  prairie  interspersed  with  "  mots  "  or  groves 
of  timber.  In  one  of  these  I  stopped  about  noon,  and  broiled 
a  piece  of  my  pork  for  dinner.  After  resting  an  hour  or  so  I 
continued  on  my  way,  an  '  about  sunset  came  to  some  tim- 
ber bordering  a  small  stream.  I  had  scarcely  entered  this 
timber,  which  was  open  and  free  from  undergrowth,  when  I 
noticed  several  large  wolves  -trotting  along  behind  me. 
Every  now  and  then  they  set  up  a  howl,  which  was  answered 
by  others  in  the  distance,  and  before  long  numbers  of  them 
had  gathered  around  me,  attracted,  I  suppose,  by  the  howl- 
ing of  those  I  had  first  seen,  or  by  the  smell  of  the  fresh  meat 
I  had  with  me.  I  had  no  fear  of  an  immediate  attack  from 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  89 

them,  nevertheless,  I  hurried  on  as  fast  as  I  could  until  I 
came  to  the  small  stream  I  have  mentioned,  on  the  bank  of 
which  I  pitched  camp,  near  a  large  fallen  tree  that  would  af- 
ford sufficient  fuel  to  keep  a  fire  burning  all  night.  I  am 
confident  if  I  had  not  had  a  fire  that  night,  the  wolves  would 
have  torn  me  to  pieces;  as  it  was,  they  sometimes  ventured  up 
to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  fire,  howling  and  snarling,  and  evi- 
dently inclined  to  make  a  dash  at  me  at  all  hazards.  It 
was  impossible  to  sleep,  so  I  took  my  spite  out  of  them  by 
occasionally  throwing  a  fire  brand  amongst  the  crowd.  This 
would  silence  them  for  a  moment,  but  they  would  soon  begin 
their  howlings  again.  Towards  daylight  they  raised  the 
siege  and  departed,  and  I  got  a  little  nap  before  sunrise. 

To-day,  while  crossing  another  large  prairie,  I  saw  in  the 
distance  a  considerable  body  of  Mexicans  or  Indians,  I  could 
not  tell  which,  who  were  traveling  at  a  rapid  rate,  and  I  soon 
lost  sight  of  them.  In  this  prairie  I  passed  many  herds  of 
deer,  generally  fifty  to  a  hundred  in  a  herd,  which  were  so 
gentle  they  frequently  permitted  me  to  approach  within  a 
few  paces  of  them  before  they  noticed  me  at  all.  I  also  saw 
several  droves  of  mustangs,  which  were  much  wilder  than  the 
deer,  and  invariably  whenever  I  got  within  five  or  six  hun- 
dred yards  of  them  they  would  raise  their  heads,  gaze  at  me 
for  a  few  moments,  and  then  with  much  snorting  and  "  ca- 
vorting "  they  would  go  off  like  the  wind,  and  never  slacken 
their  speed  as  long  as  they  were  in  sight. 

In  a  small  grove  of  timber  where  I  had  halted  to  rest 
awhile,  I  saw  for  the  first  time  a  horned  frog.  I  had  heard 
of  the  tarantula  and  centipede  of  Texas,  and  supposing  the 
harmless  frog  was  one  or  the  other  I  picked  up  a  stick  about 
ten  feet  long  (not  venturing  to  approach  nearer  such  a  poi- 
sonous reptile)  and  mashed  him  as  flat  as  a  pan-cake. 

Continuing  my  course,  about  sunset  I  came  to  a  belt  of 
timber  bordering  another  small  stream.  On  the  bank  of  this 

6 


!><i  I'Jiirlii    Time*   in 

stream  there  was  an  Indian  encampment  that  appeared  to 
have  been  occupied  a  day  or  so  previously.  Several  of  their 
fires  were  still  smoking,  and  from  their  number  I  supposed 
there  were  thirty  or  forty  in  the  party.  Around  these  fires 
was  scattered  a  great  quantity  of  bones,  mostly  those  of  deer, 
though  the  head  of  a  mustang  here  and  there  showed  that 
they  varied  their  diet  by  an  occasional  feast  on  horse  flesh. 

A  cold  misting  rain  had  begun  to  fall  just  before  I  came  to* 
this  camp,  and  seeing  it  was  likely  to  continue  through  the 
night,  I  took  possession  of  a  shanty  built  of  small  poles  and 
covered  with  slips  of  bark.  In  this  I  stowed  myself  and  bag- 
gage and  made  myself  perfectly  "at  home."  With  a  large 
fire  in  front  of  it  and  plenty  of  hog,  but  no  hominy,  I  passed 
a  very  comfortable  night,  serenaded  as  usual  by  wolves. 

Next  morning  the  rain  had  ceased,  and  the  sun  was  shining 
brightly  when  I  woke  up.  Cooking  a  piece  of  my  pork,  I 
made  a  hasty  breakfast  for  fear  the  owner  of  the  shanty  might 
return  and  ask  me  to  pay  for  my  night's  lodging,  and  again 
started  on  my  journey. 

During  the  day  I  saw  several  "signal  smokes,"  made  I  sup- 
pose by  Indians,  but  they  were  a  long  way  off.  These  signal 
smokes  are  curious  things.  Often  when  traveling  over  the 
plains  of  Western  Texas,  I  have  seen  a  column  of  smake  rise 
perpendicularly  into  the  air  (no  matter  how  strong  the  breeze 
might  be  blowing)  to  a  great  height,  when  it  would  spread 
out  at  the  top  like  an  umbrella,  and  after  remaining  station- 
ary for  a  moment  "puff"  it  would  suddenly  disappear,  to  be 
answered  perhaps  by  another,  twenty  or  thirty  miles  away. 
They  are  no  doubt  intended  for  signals  to  warn  others  of  the 
proximity  of  foes,  and  to  indicate  their  own  position.  I  have 
asked  many  old  frontiersman  how  it  was  the  Indians  made 
smokes,  but  none  of  them  could  ever  explain  the  matter  sat- 
isfactorily to  me.  I  have  occasionally  seen  four  or  five  of 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  91 

these  signal  smokes  rising  up  in  various  directions  at  the 
same  time. 

To-day,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  what  I  know  now  was  a 
tarantula,  a  very  large  and  exceedingly  venomous  spider? 
that  haunts  the  dry  and  elevated  prairies  of  Western  Texas. 
They  are  not  often  seen  in  the  timbered  lands  or  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  settlements.  The  body  of  a  full  grown 
one  is  as  large  as  a  hen's  egg,  and  is  covered  with  scattering 
hairs  or  bristles.  They  have  two  curved  fangs  protruding 
from  the  mouth,  about  as  long  and  very  similar  in  appearance 
to  those  of  the  rattlesnake.  When  provoked  they  are  very 
pugnacious,  rising  upon  their  hind  legs  and  springing  towards 
the  assailant  five  or  six  inches  at  a  time  in  successive  leaps. 
The  Mexicans  say  their  bite  is  certain  death,  and  one  can 
readily  credit  the  assertion  after  seeing  them. 

I  made  but  little  if  any  progress  to-day,  for  not  long  after  I 
had  started  it  clouded  up  and  commenced  misting  again,  so 
that  I  lost  sight  of  the  timber  towards  which  I  was  steering 
my  course.  Finally  I  became  completely  bewildered  and 
after  wandering  about  all  day  I  came  to  a  belt  of  timber  I 
had  good  reason  to  suppose  was  the  same  I  had  started  from 
in  the  morning.  At  any  rate  the  sun  just  then  showed  itself 
for  a  few  moments,  and  I  found  I  was  traveling  in  the  direc- 
tion directly  opposite  the  one  I  should  have  pursued. 

It  was  too  late  to  take  the  prairie  again,  and  I  picked  out  a 
suitable  place  for  camp,  started  a  fire  and  cooked  some  of  my 
pork  for  supper,  which  for  want  of  salt  was  getting  to  be 
rather  too  much  tainted  to  suit  the  taste  of  any  one  but  a 
Frenchman.  During  the  night  the  wolves  favored  me  with 
another  concert  of  howlings,  but  they  were  much  less  impu- 
dent than  upon  a  former  occasion,  and  did  not  approach  near 
enough  to  enable  me  to  salute  them  with  fire  brands. 

In  the  morning  I  rose  betimes,  and  unpacking  all  the  pork 
I  had  left,  I  spitted  it  on  sticks  stuck  up  before  a  blazing  fire- 


Kuril/  Tiini's  in  Texas. 

I  thought  by  roasting  it  in  this  way  to  keep  it  from  spoiling 
entirely.  The  clouds  had  blown  off  and  the  sun  shone  out 
warm  and  pleasant,  and  having  eaten  some  of  my  roasted 
pork  which  had  decidedly  too  much  of  the  "gout,"  I  started 
out  again  across  the  open  prairie.  This  time  I  made  the  trip 
without  difficulty,  and  about  mid-day  I  came  to  a  small  stream 
which  I  afterwards  learned  was  called  the  Tres  Palacios  or 
Three  Palaces.  How  it  acquired  the  name  I  cannot  say,  but 
I  am  sure  I  saw  no  palaces  in  its  vicinity.  Where  I  crossed 
it,  I  noticed  a  few  small  cedar  trees  growing  near  the  bank, 
and  I  determined  to  cut  one  of  them  down  and  make  a  bow. 
This  was  no  small  job,  as  you  may  suppose,  considering  I  had 
nothing  to  cut  it  with  except  a  small  piece  of  the  blade  of  a 
drawing  knife — the  same  I  had  found  at  the  house  where  I 
killed  the  hog,  and  which  I  had  carried  in  my  knapsack  ever 
since.  By  the  time  I  cut  the  sappling  down,  I  was  both  tired 
and  hungry,  so  I  knocked  off  work  to  rest  a  while  and  cook 
some  pork.  I  then  resumed  my  task,  and  chopping  off  about 
six  feet  from  the  butt  end  of  the  sapling  I  split  it  into  four 
pieces  with  a  wooden  wedge  and  maul.  From  these  I  selected 
the  one  that  was  freest  from  knots  and  other  defects,  out  of 
which,  by  patience  and  perseverance  and  with  the  aid  of  my 
piece  of  drawing  knife  I  manufactured  a  very  good  bow. 
Arrows  I  knew  I  could  easily  get  anywhere  in  the  bottoms 
among  the  thickets  of  swamp  dog  wood  or  young  cane.  By 
the  time  my  bow  was  finished  night  came  on,  and  I  pitched 
my  camp  near  the  creek  in  a  little  open  space  completely 
surrounded  by  a  thick  growth  of  underwood.  Here  I  built 
my  fire,  warmed  over  some  of  my  roasted  pork,  and  after 
supper  '-turned  in"  to  a  bed  of  Spanish  moss  which  I  had 
gathered  from  a  tree  near  by. 

The  next  morning  I  gave  the  finishing  touches  to  my  bow 
and  then  for  the  first  time  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  noth- 
ing that  would  answer  for  a  string.  I  tried  to  make  one  of 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  93 

the  bark  of  several  shrubs,  and  of  the  leaves  of  bear  grass, 
but  although  I  taxed  my  ingenuity  to  the  utmost,  I  failed  to 
make  a  cord  strong  enough  for  the  bow,  and  I  had  at  last  to 
abandon  the  attempt  altogether. 

This  was  a  great  disappointment  to  me  as  I  had  calculated 
largely  on  supplying  myself  with  an  abundance  of  small  game 
by  means  of  my  bow.  I  had  heard  of  people  having  "two 
strings  to  their  bows,"  and  yet  under  the  most  pressing  ne- 
cessity I  was  unable  to  get  one  for  mine — which  convinces 
me  that  things  are  very  unequally  divided  in  this  world. 

The  day  was  so  far  gone  when  I  had  finished  my  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  at  cord  making,  that  I  thought  it  best  to  re- 
main where  I  was  for  the  night  and  make  a  fresh  start  in  the 
morning.  It  must  have  been  twelve  or  one  o'clock,  when 
something  awoke  me,  and  finding  that  my  fire  had  pretty  well 
gone  out,  I  was  just  in  the  act  of  getting  up  to  throw  some 
sticks  on  it,  when  I  heard  the  stealthy  but  heavy  tread  of 
some  large  animal  near  by.  I  laid  still  and  listened  atten- 
tively, and  was  convinced  there  was  some  heavy  animal  cau- 
tiously approaching  the  spot  where  I  was  lying.  Just  then, 
fortunately  probably  for  me,  a  chunk  rolled  off  a  log  I  had 
placed  behind  the  fire,  and  blazed  up  brightly.  By  the  light 
thus  made,  I  saw  distinctly  either  a  large  panther  or  Mexican 
lion,  not  twenty  feet  distant,  crouching  down  as  if  about  to 
spring  upon  me.  I  instantly  jumped,  and  seizing  my  "bed 
clothes"  (the  dry  Spanish  moss  I  had  gathered)  I  threw  it 
on  the  fire  and  it  blazed  up  at  once  as  high  as  my  head. 
This  must  have  frightened  the  animal,  whatever  it  was,  for 
when  I  turned  to  look  it  was  gone.  Possibly  it  did  not  in- 
tend to  attack  me,  but  the  way  in  which  it  had  approached 
me,  was  to  say  the  least  of  it  very  suspicious.  The  loss  of 
my  "bed  clothes"  did  not  discommode  me  much,  as  I  sat  up 
the  balance  of  the  night  to  keep  my  fire  supplied  with  fresh 
fuel,  although  the  night  was  quite  warm. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM  INDIANS—  REACH  THE  COLORADO  RIVER 
AND  SWIM  IT — OLD  CANEY  CREEK — IMMENSE  CANE  BRAKE 
— ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  WILD  CAT — GET  INTO  COMFORTABLE 

ARTERS. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  rose,  I  made  haste  to  leave  the  locality 
where  I  had  passed  such  an  unpleasant  night.  Late  in  the 
evening  I  came  to  an  extensive  body  of  timber,  in  which  I 
supposed  I  would  find  a  considerable  stream.  On  the  edge 
of  this  timber  I  saw  a  house,  and  as  by  this  time  what  re- 
mained of  my  pork  was  so  strong  of  the  "gout"  that  I  don't 
think  even  a  Frenchman  would  have  relished  it,  I  determined 
to  go  to  the  house  and  search  for  something  to  eat.  I  entered 
the  woods  some  distance  below  it,  and  kept  under  cover  until 
I  was  near  enough  to  see  there  was  no  one  about,  when  I 
ventured  up.  On  entering  I  soon  saw  that  it  had  been  ran- 
sacked by  the  Mexicans,  who  had  consumed  or  taken  away 
whatever  there  might  have  been  in  it  in  the  way  of  eatables. 
In  the  vicinity,  however,  as  I  was  leaving,  I  came  across  a 
half-grown  hog,  which  evidently  had  very  recently  been  shot 
by  some  one,  who  had  taken  only  a  small  part  of  it,  and  I 
appropriated  as  much  of  what  was  left  as  I  could  convenient- 
ly carry.  As  the  sun  was  about  setting,  I  went  some  distance 
into  the  timber,  so  that  the  light  from  my  fire  would  not  be 
visible  to  any  one  passing  along  the  prairie,  where  I  "biv- 
ouackecl"  for  the  night  at  the  foot  of  a  tree. 

By  sunrise  I  was  up  and  on  my  way  again,  crossing  in  a 
mile  or  so  a  considerable  creek.  To-day  I  passed  over  a 
country  mostly  prairie,  but  interspersed  here  and  there  with 
groves  of  live  oaks,  hackberry,  etc.,  which  gave  it  a  park 


Adventure*  of  Ju.ck  Dobell.  95 

like  appearance.  In  one  of  these  groves,  thickly  settled  with 
underbrush,  I  stopped  to  rest,  and  was  just  in  the  act  of  leav- 
ing it,  when  I  heard  the  tramping  of  horses'  hoofs  and  the 
jangling  of  spurs  and  other  accoutrements.  Looking  through 
the  bushes  I  saw  about  twenty  Indians  slowly  jogging  along 
in  single  file  upon  their  horses.  They  had  no  guns  and  were 
armed  only  with  bows  and  lances.  They  rode  within  thirty 
paces  of  where  I  was  lying — low,  but  did  not  halt,  and  in  a 
few  moments  they  were  hid  from  my  view  by  another  grove. 
I  remained  where  I  was  half  an  hour  longer  than  1  would 
have  done  otherwise,  in  order  to  give  these  Indians  full  time 
to  get  out  of  my  way,  and  then  proceeded  on  my  course.  A 
little  before  sunset  I  came  to  a  clear  running  creek,  on  the 
farther  side  of  which  I  encamped.  (At  that  time,  all  the 
creeks  and  small  water  courses,  and  even  the  ponds  in  West- 
ern Texas  were  clear  and  pure,  but  now  many  of  them  have 
lost  that  character  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  owing  to  the 
cultivation  of  adjacent  lands  and  the  tramping  of  stock.) 

I  had  made  my  camp  beneath  some  low  spreading  live 
oaks,  which  appeared  to  be  a  favorite  roosting  place  for  wild 
turkeys.  Just  at  dusk  they  came  flocking  into  them  from 
every  direction,  and  they  were  so  unused  to  being  hunted,  I 
could  easily  have  killed  one  with  a  pocket  pistol — but  as  I 
didn't  have  the  pistol  I  had  to  content  myself  with  roast  pork 
instead  of.  roast  turkey. 

I  had  noticed  before  dark  that  a  very  extensive  prairie  lay 
to  the  north  and  east,  and  I  was  up  and  on  my  way  the  next 
morning  before  daylight,  in  order  that  I  might  reach  the 
timber  on  the  opposite  side  as  speedily  as  possible.  I  ran 
but  little  risk  comparatively  when  traveling  in  timber,  but  on 
the  open  prairie  I  was  in  constant  danger  of  being  picked  up 
by  parties  of  Mexicans  or  Indians.  I  pushed  on  as  fast  as  I 
could  until  noon,  when  I  stopped  to  rest  in  a  grove  near  a 
small  lagoon  that  seemed  to  be  well  stocked  with  fish,  for  I 


.%'  Early  Times  in  Texas 

saw  numbers  of  bass  and  perch  swimming  in  the  shallow 
water  near  shore.  On  the  margin  of  this  lake  I  found  some 
wild  onions  growing,  which  I  dug  up  and  ate  raw,  and  which 
were  a  great  treat  to  me,  as  I  had  not  had  anything  in  the 
vegetable  line,  fresh  and  green,  for  a  long  time. 

In  the  evening  I  continued  on  my  way  across  the  prairie 
on  the  farther  side  of  which  I  could  see  a  long  line  of  un- 
broken timber  stretching  from  northeast  to  southwest,  as  far 
as  my  eye  could  reach.  It  was  nearly  night  when  I  came  to 
this  timber,  and  I  had  gone  but  a  little  way  in  it,  when  I  saw 
a  large  river  before  me,  which  I  knew  must  be  the  Colorado. 
The  river  was  very  high  and  rapid,  and  I  thought  it  best  to 
encamp  for  the  night  and  wait  until  morning  before  I  at- 
tempted to  swim  it.  Where  I  struck  it,  it  was  about  two 
hundred  yards  wide  and  much  swollen  by  recent  heavy  rains, 
and  although  I  was  a  good  swimmer,  I  felt  some  hesitation 
the  next  morning  in  "taking  water."  However,  I  looked 
around  and  found  a  suitable  piece  of  dead  timber,  to  which 
I  tied  my  boots  and  clothes,  and  launched  forth  with  it  on 
the  turbulent  stream,  pushing  it  before  me  as  I  swam.  Fi- 
nally I  made  a  landing  safely  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river, 
but  was  carried  by  the  strength  of  the  current  a  considerable 
distance  below  the  pofnt  where  I  had  entered  the  water. 

After  resting  myself  a  while  and  drying  my  clothes,  I  took 
up  the  line  of  march  again  through  a  heavily  timbered  bot- 
tom about  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  from  which  I  at  length 
emerged  into  the  open  prairie.  Without  halting  I  continued 
on  my  course  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  I  came  to 
the  timber  on  old  Caney  Creek.  Along  this  creek,  which 
apparently  in  times  gone  by  was  the  bed  of  the  Colorado 
river,  from  its  head  to  its  mouth,  a  distance  of  sixty  or  seven- 
ty miles,  there  was  a  continuous  cane  brake.  Where  I 
struck  the  timber  on  old  Caney,  there  had  been  a  considera- 
ble settlement,  as  some  four  or  five  houses  were  in  sight,  but 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  97 

on  examination,  I  found  that  all  of  them  had  been  plundered 
by  Mexicans,  who  had  taken  everything  of  any  value  left  on 
the  premises.  At  one  of  these  houses  whilst  searching  the 
rooms  to  see  if  anything  in  the  way  of  provisions  had  been 
overlooked  by  the  Mexicans,  I  heard  a  hen  "squawking"  as  if 
some  "varmint"  was  in  pursuit  of  her.  I  stepped  to  the  door 
to  look  out,  and  saw  a  hen  racing  around  the  yard  and  a  very 
large  wild  cat  following  her  closely.  Having  seen  nothing 
eatable  anywhere,  except  this  hen,  I  determined  to  put  in  a 
"bid"  for  her  myself,  and  picking  up  a  billet  of  wood,  I 
stepped  out  boldly  towards  the  cat.  When  he  saw  me  com- 
ing, he  quit  his  pursuit  of  the  hen,  but  showed  not  the  slight- 
est disposition  to  abandon  the  field.  I  advanced  to  within 
a  few  paces  of  where  he  stood  humping  his  back  and  showing 
his  teeth,  and  threw  the  stick  I  had  in  my  hand  at  his  head. 
I  missed  my  aim,  but  struck  him  a  severe  blow  on  the  side, 
and  instantly  he  gave  a  scream  and  sprang  furiously  towards 
me.  I  retreated  precipitately  and  ingloriously  for  t.he  house, 
which  I  reached  just  in  time  to  rush  into  the  door  and  slam 
it  to  in  the  face  of  the  infuriated  cat.  If  I  had  had  a  few 
feet  further  to  go,  he  would  have  nabbed  me  to  a  certainty. 
The  cat  stopped  some  time  in  front  of  the  door,  as  if  he  in- 
tended to  besiege  me  in  the  house,  or  was  bantering  me  to 
come  out  and  give  him  a  fair  fight,  which,  under  the  circum- 
stances, I  declined  doing,  but  after  a  while  he  went  off  lei- 
surely towards  the  woods  and  I  saw  him  no  more.  In  the 
mean  time  "the  bone  of  contention,"  the  hen,  had  gone  to 
roost  in  tree  near  by.  She  undoubtedly  owed  her  life  to  me, 
but  for  a  very  little  while,  for  after  dark  I  climbed  up  to  her 
roost,  grabbed  her  by  the  leg,  and  wrung  her  neck.  With  my 
prize,  I  retreated  as  speedily  as  possible  to  the  house,  for  fear 
the  wild  cat  might  return  and  assert  his  claim  to  it  again,  and 
as  I  had  no  weapon  I  was  very  sure  he  would  get  the  better 
of  the  contest  and  the  hen  too. 


Times  in  Texas. 

I  remained  all  night  at  this  house,  and  after  breakfasting 
on  the  hen  I  had  saved  from  the  wild  cat,  I  started  off  down 
the  bottom  to  reconnoitre  the  country  in  that  direction.  When 
I  had  gone  a  mile  or  two  I  came  to  a  small  prairie  connected 
with  the  main  one  by  a  very  narrow  neck  and  surrounded 
everywhere  else  by  thick  woods  and  cane  brakes.  This  I  con- 
cluded to  explore,  and  after  proceeding  some  distance  in  it, 
I  saw  there  was  a  house  at  the  farther  end.  When  I  had 
approached  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  house,  a  half  a 
dozen  dogs  came  rushing  out  of  it,  seemingly  with  the  inten- 
tion of  tearing  me  to  pieces.  I  picked  up  a  stick  to  defend 
myself,  but  when  the  dogs  got  near  enough  to  see  that  I  was 
an  American,  instead  of  attacking  me  they  began  to  leap  and 
jump  around  me  as  dogs  do  when  they  see  their  masters  after  a 
long  absence.  How  they  found  out  so  quickly  I  was  an 
American,  I  do  not  know,  for  exposure  to  sun  and  weather 
had  tanned  my  complexion,  until  it  was  as  dark  as  that  of  a 
Mexican  or  Indian.  With  my  escort  of  dogs  I  went  to  the 
house,  and  entering  it,  saw  at  once  that  the  Mexicans  had 
never  been  there,  for  everything  remained,  evidently,  just 
as  it  had  been  left  by  the  occupants — furniture  untouched, 
cases  filled  with  books  and  articles  of  wearing  apparel,  cribs 
with  corn  and  smoke  house  containing  at  least  a  thousand 
pounds  of  bacon.  In  a  kind  of  shed  room  I  also  found  a 
barrel  of  brown  sugar  and  half  a  sack  of  coffee,  and  in  the 
crib,  besides  corn,  a  quantity  of  potatoes  and  pumpkins. 
There  were  a  great  many  chickens  and  ducks  in  the  yard, 
which  no  doubt,  had  been  protected  from  "varmints"  by  the 
pack  of  dogs  that  still  continued  to  escort  me  about  the 
premises.  In  the  smoke  house  as  I  have  said,  there  was  a 
large  quantity  of  bacon,  and  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  take 
a  "middling"  and  cut  it  up  for  the  dogs.  I  then  built  a  fire  in 
one  of  the  chimneys  and  in  a  little  while  had  cooked  for  my- 
self a  first  rate  dinner  together  with  a  cup  of  coffee,  the  first 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  99 

I  had  tasted  since  leaving  Goliad.  After  dinner  I  turned  into 
one  of  the  beds  in  the  house  and  had  a  comfortable  snooze. 

When  I  awoke  I  got  up  and  continued  my  investigations. 
In  a  back  room  I  found  quite  a  library,  a  rare  thing  at  that 
time  in  Texas.  I  found  also  many  articles  of  clothing  in  a 
closet,  some  of  which  fitted  me  tolerably  well,  and  from  which 
without  any  tear  of  being  arrested  for  "petit  larceny,"  I  re- 
plenished my  scanty  wardrobe.  Among  other  things  I  found 
in  this  house — something  I  wished  for  exceedingly — was  a 
gun,  but  unfortunately  it  was  without  a  lock,  and  consequent- 
ly useless.  Not  far  from  the  main  building  there  was  a  row 
of  log  cabins,  that  evidently  had  served  as  negro  "quarters," 
which  induced  me  to  believe  that  the  place  belonged  to  some 
well  to  do  cotton  planter. 

As  I  had  been  much  weakened  by  starvation  and  fatigue 
and  the  exposure  I  had  undergone  in  my  route  through  the 
wilderness,  I  concluded  I  would  "stop  over"  a  day  or  two  at 
this  house  and  recuperate  my  strength  a  little  before  I  set  out 
on  my  journey  again.  There  were  beds  in  several  of  the 
rooms,  in  one  of  which  I  slept  at  night,  while  my  pack  of 
dogs  kept  watch  outside.  These  dogs  were  not  mongrels  or 
"curs  of  low  degree,"  neither  were  they  of  the  "suck  egg" 
breed,  as  was  evident  from  the  fact  that  although  they  were 
in  a  starving  condition  when  I  came,  and  that  the  chickens 
had  laid  their  eggs  almost  everywhere  in  the  house  and  yard, 
not  one  had  been  touched  by  them — for  which  I  was  thank- 
ful, being  particularly  fond  of  eggs  myself. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

IN  CLOVER — TOO  MUCH  FRIED  CHICKEN — PITCHING  A  TENT  OVER 
A  "DEN"  OF  RATTLESNAKES — FOLLOWED  BY  MY  PACK  OF 
DOGS  AND  COMPELLED  TO  RETURN — GlVE  THEM  THE  DODGE 
IN  THE  NIGHT,  BUT  ONE  TRAILS  ME  AND  PERSISTS  IN  KEEPING 
ME  COMPANY — I  NAME  HIM  "SCOUT." 

I  remained  several  days  in  my  comfortable  quarters,  feast- 
ing on  the  good  things  I  found  in  them,  and  reading  books  I 
selected  from  the  library.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day 
of  my  sojourn  at  the  house,  feeling  a  little  unwell  (I  rather 
think  I  had  been  indulging  somewhat  too  freely  in  "fried 
chicken"),  I  concluded  I  would  take  a  short  stroll  around  my 
domains  by  way  of  exercise.  After  going  a  few  hundred 
yards  I  turned  to  take  a  bird's  eye  view  of  my  surroundings, 
and  I  exclaimed  as  Crusoe  did  on  his  island: 

(<I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey, 
My  right  there  is  none  to  dispute," 

except,  I  mentally  added,  a  marauding  party  of  Mexicans 
or  Indians,  and  now  and  then  a  wild  cat. 

Whilst  passing  through  some  tall  grass,  I  came  very  near 
treading  on  a  rattlesnake,  the  first  I  had  seen  in  Texas,  al- 
though some  portions  of  the  country  I  had  passed  over  was 
much  infested  with  them;  but  the  season  then  was  hardly  far 
enough  advanced  to  bring  them  out  of  the  dens  or  holes  in 
which  they  take  up  their  winter  quarters.  Often  since,  when 
passing  over  some  of  the  uninhabited  plains  between  the 
Nueces  and  Rio  Grande  rivers,  I  have  found  them  so  numerous 
in  particular  localities,  that  I  was  scarcely  ever  out  of  hearing 
of  the  sound  of  their  rattles.  They^are  not,  however,  nearly  so 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  101 

vicious  in  Texas  as  they  are  in  some  other  countries,  and  sel- 
dom attempt  to  strike,  unless  attacked.  I  have  slept  with 
them,  ridden  and  walked  over  them  frequently,  and  instead 
of  trying  to  bite  me  they  always  did  their  best  to  get  out  of 
the  way — except  on  one  occasion.  I  was  stalking  some  deer 
one  day  on  the  prairie,  when  I  stepped  upon  a  rattlesnake 
lying  coiled  up  in  the  grass.  I  knew  even  before  I  saw  it,  by 
the  peculiar  soft  squirmy  feel  under  my  foot  that  I  had  put  it 
on  a  snake,  and  I  promptly  "lit  out"  without  waiting  for 
orders.  As  I  did  not  wish  to  shoot  him  for  fear  of  alarming 
the  deer,  and  as  they  are  easily  stunned  by  a  very  slight  tap 
on  the  head,  I  drew  the  ramrod  from  my  rifle  and  gave  his 
head  a  smart  blow  with  it.  I  then  mashed  his  head  by  repeated 
blows  with  the  breech  of  my  gun,  and  thinking  of  course  I 
had  killed  him,  I  went  on  after  the  deer.  Two  days  subse- 
quently when  passing  the  place  again,  that  same  snake  came 
very  near  biting  me.  I  knew  it  was  the  same,  for  one  of  his 
eyes  was  out,  and  his  whole  head  bruised  and  bloody  from  the 
blows  I  had  given  it  with  the  breech  of  my  rifle.  I  really 
believe  he  recognized  me  as  the  "author  of  all  his  ills,"  for 
when  I  attempted  to  go  near  him  he  would  raise  his  head  a 
foot  or  more  from  the  ground,  and  with  his  rattles  going  in- 
cessantly, would  glare  at  me  with  his  one  eye  in  the  most 
vindictive  way.  I  determined  to  make  sure  of  him  this  time, 
and  leveling  my  rifle  at  his  head,  I  took  good  aim  and  fired. 
The  bullet  knocked  his  head  into  fragments,  and  one  of  the 
pieces  struck  me  on  the  forehead,  making  a  slight  wound. 
The  idea  immediately  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  been  struck 
by  one  of  his  fangs,  and  that  I  was  fated  to  be  killed  by  this 
particular  snake.  However,  after  bathing  the  scratch  in  a 
pool  of  water,  and  finding  that  my  head  had  not  swelled  up 
as  big  as  a  bushel,  I  went  on  my  way,  congratulating  myself 
upon  my  second  escape  from  my  vindictive  foe. 

But  to  return  from   this  digression,  to    my    story.     On  the 


Early  Time*  in  Texas. 

morning  of  the  fourth  day  of  my  sojourn  at  this  house,  I  con- 
cluded I  had  regained  my  strength  sufficiently  to  take  the 
road  once  more,  or  rather  the  woods  and  prairies.  Prepara- 
tory to  leaving,  I  packed  up  as  much  sugar,  coffee  and  bacon 
as  I  could  carry,  together  with  five  or  six  pounds  of  meal, 
which  I  had  ground  upon  a  steel  mill.  I  also  put  a  tin  cup 
in  my  knapsack,  and  several  other  articles  which  I  thought 
would  be  useful  to  me.  When  ready  to  start  I  stuck  a  couple 
of  carving  knives  (which  I  had  also  found*  at  this  house)  in 
my  belt,  and,  bidding  adieu  to  my  dogs,  after  I  had  given 
them  middlings  enough  to  last  them  for  a  month,  I  set  out  on 
my  tiavels  again.  But,  to  my  great  dismay,  when  I  had  got 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  house,  I  found  I  had  not  con- 
sulted the  wishes  of  the  dogs  about  leaving  them,  and  that 
the  whole  pack  was  following  close  at  my  heels — suspecting^ 
I  suppose,  from  the  preparations  they  had  seen  me  making^ 
that  I  was  going  "for  good."  I  tried  to  drive  them  back  by 
throwing  sticks  and  other  things  at  them,  but  it  was  all  to  no 
purpose.  They  would  stop  whenever  I  did,  but  the  minute  I 
started  they  followed  on.  I  knew  it  would  be  impossible  for 
me  to  travel  safely  through  a  country  in  which  I  would  be 
liable  at  any  time  to  meet  marauding  parties  of  Mexicans  and 
Indians  with  a  half  dozen  dogs  at  my  heels,  and  finding  I 
could  not  get  rid  of  them,  I  determined  to  go  back  to  the 
house,  wait  there  until  night,  and  then  quietly  leave  them. 
So  I  returned,  and  passed  another  day  very  pleasantly  at  my 
house,  looking  over  the  books  in  my  library,  and  cooking  and 
eating  at  short  intervals. 

Before  I  retired  to  my  apartment,  I  noticed  particularly 
where  the  dogs  were  sleeping,  and  about  midnight  I  got  up, 
quietly  shouldered  my  pack  of  provisions,  and  left  the  house. 
I  had  gone  perhaps  half  a  mile  down  the  edge  of  the  cane 
brake  when  I  heard  the  pattering  of  feet  behind  me,  and  in  a 
few  moments  one  of  the  dogs  came  up.  I  beat  him  severely 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  103 

with  a  stick,  but  he  only  whined  and  crouched  down  at  my 
feet.  Finally,  I  determined  to  kill  him  with  one  of  my  butch- 
er knives,  but  as  I  grasped  him  by  the  neck,  and  drew  my 
carving  knife,  he  looked  up  at  me  so  piteously  that  I  hadn't 
the  heart  to  use  it,  and  abandoned  my  murderous  intention. 
I  thought  I  could  manage  to  keep  one  dog  under  control,  and 
that  the  risk  I  ran  of  being  killed  or  captured  would  not  be 
increased  to  any  great  extent  by  having  a  dog  with  me;  be- 
sides, I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  company  of  a  dog 
was  better  than  none.  Like  the  Frenchman,  I  think  that  sol- 
itude is  very  pleasant  at  times,  provided  there  is  some  one 
with  you  to  whom  you  can  say  "how  delightful  is  solitude." 
The  dog  that  followed  me  was  a  very  large  "and  powerful  one 
— a  cross,  I  think,  between  the  English  bull  and  the  New- 
foundland. I  found  him  to  be  tractable  and,  at  the  same 
time,  as  courageous  as  a  lion,  In  a  few  days  I  had  him  per- 
fectly under  control;  could  make  him  lie  down  at  a  word, 
and  remain  at  camp  to  guard  it  when  I  went  off  foraging  or 
reconnoitering.  I  named  him  Scout. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CAMP  IN    CANE    BRAKE— TRY     TO    CUT     A     ROAD    THROUGH    THE 

IIRAKE — FRIGHTENED  BY  A  BEAR— FIND  COMFORTABLR  QUAR- 
TERS  AGAIN — SPLENDID    BREAKFAST — VAIN  SEARCH  FOR  A 

ROAD  CROSSING  BRAKE — NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM  A    PARTY    OF 

LANCERS — GIVE  MY  DOG  A  LESSON. 

After  traveling  a  mile  or  two  down  the  brake,  I  thought  I 
had  gone  far  enough  to  getaway  from  the  other  dogs,  and  I 
encamped  for  the  balance  of  the  night  near  a  lagoon.  I  heard 
no  wolves  at  this  camp,  but  several  times  during  the  night  I 
was  roused  by  the  noise  made  by  some  large  animal  forcing 
its  way  through  the  cane.  I  suppose  it  was  a  bear,  as  I  no- 
ticed next  morning  a  great  many  tracks  in  the  soft  ooze  near 
the  margin  of  the  lagoon. 

Whilst  lying  awake  the  next  morning,  upon  my  bed  of  dry 
leaves,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  a  rustling  among  them,  and 
turning  them  over,  I  found  an  ugly  reptile  about  six  inches 
long,  which  I  thought  then,  and  know  now,  was  a  centipede. 
Not  fancying  such  a  bed-fellow,  I  quickly  dispatched  him 
with  a  stick.  They  resemble  somewhat  the  reptile  called  the 
"thousand  leg  worm,"  but  they  are  much  larger  and  flatter, 
and  although  they  are  well  provided  with  legs,  they  have  not 
quite  a  thousand.  They  are  of  a  dark  brown  color  on  the 
back,  and  the  under  side  a  dirty  white.  Their  tail  is  forked, 
and  has  a  long  sting  in  the  end  of  each  prong,  besides  smaller 
stings  on  each  foot,  and,  to  complete  their  means  of  inflicting 
wounds,  the  mouth  is  furnished  with  fangs.  They  are  a.  dis- 
gusting looking  "varmint,"  and  are  said  to  be  very  venom- 
ous. An  old  Texan  speaking  about  them,  said:  "When  they 
wound  you  with  their  feet  alone,  it  hurts  considerable;  when 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell-  105 

they  sting  you  with  their  forked  tail  it's  a  great  deal  worse, 
but  when  they  pop  you  with  all  their  stings,  and  bite  you  too 
— say  your  prayers." 

As  soon  as  I  had  cooked  and  eaten  breakfast  and  Scout  had 
cleaned  the  dishes  by  licking  them,  I  began  to  search  again 
for  a  road  that  would  lead  me  across  the  brake.  Failing  to 
find  one  after  searching  for  several  hours  along  the  edge  of 
the  brake,  I  determined,  if  possible,  to  cut  my  way  through  it. 
I  therefore  attacked  the  cane,  green  briers  and  bushes  with  a 
carving  knife,  and  after  working  faithfully  till  late  in  the  day, 
I  found  I  had  gone  about  three  hundred  yards.  Such  slow 
progress  was  exceedingly  discouraging,  for  at  that  rate,  if  the 
brake  was  as  wide  as  I  thought  it  to  be,  I  would  be  several 
weeks  getting  through  it.  There  were  a  few  scattering  trees 
among  the  cane,  and  in  order  that  I  might  be  able  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  width  of  the  brake,  I  climbed  one  of  the 
tallest,  from  whence  I  could  see  an  ocean  of  cane,  extending 
at  least  four  miles  in  the  direction  I  wished  to  go,  and  beyond 
the  scope  of  vision  to  the  Northwest  and  Southeast.  The 
length  of  time  and  the  amount  of  labor  that  I  knew  would 
necessarily  be  required  to  cut  my  way  for  so  long  a  distance 
through  this  dense  mass  of  vegetation,  induced  me  to  give 
over  the  attempt,  and,  descending  from  the  tree,  I  took  the 
path  I  had  cut  back  to  the  prairie.  Feeling  considerably  fa- 
tigued by  my  labors,  when  I  got  to  the  edge  of  the  brake,  I 
sat  down  at  the  root  of  a  large  tree  to  rest  awhile.  Gradual- 
ly I  fell  into  a  doze,  from  which  I  was  suddenly  aroused  by 
the  growling  of  Scout,  and  a  scuffling,  scratching  noise  over- 
head, and  looking  up,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  some  huge  black 
animal  sliding  down  the  tree  a  few  feet  above  my  head.  I 
sprang  off  quickly  to  one  side,  and  at  the  same  instant  a  bear 
struck  the  ground  and  took  his  way  into  the  cane,  which  pop- 
ped and  cracked  as  if  a  wagon  was  going  through  it.  It  would 
be  hard  to  say  which  was  the  most  frightened,  I  or  the  bear, 

8 


106  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

and  even  Scout  was  so  demoralized  by  his  unexpected  appear- 
ance that  he  made  no  attempt  to  pursue  him.  The  bear,  of 
course,  was  up  the  tree  when  I  took  my  seat  at  the  foot  of  it, 
and  as  the  tree  was  densely  covered  with  Spanish  moss,  I  had 
not  noticed  him.  From  my  protracted  stay  at  the  foot  of  the 
tree,  I  suppose  bruin  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I  was 
laying  siege  to  him  regularly,  and  getting  desperate,  he  had 
charged  down  upon  me  in  the  manner  I  have  related.  Had  I 
known  it  was  a  bear  when  I  first  caught  a  glimpse  of  him,  1 
should  not  have  been  alarmed,  as  I  had  never  heard  tell  of 
their  attacking  any  one  except  when  wounded  and  brought  to 
bay. 

Several  days  afterwards,  however,  two  of  them  exhibited 
such  evident  signs  of  hostile  intentions  towards  me  that  I 
was  induced  to  believe  that  they  were  not  so  non-combative 
as  generally  supposed. 

After  this  little  adventure,  I  continued  on  along  the  edge 
of  the  brake,  hoping  I  might  find  some  road  or  trail  leading 
across  it.  I  examined  every  nook  and  indentation,  and  final- 
ly came  to  quite  a  large  trail  leading  from  the  open  prairie 
towards  the  brake.  Along  this  trail  the  old  traces  of  wagon 
wheels  were  distinctly  visible.  I  followed  it  for  some  dis- 
tance running  almost  parallel  with  the  brake,  and  at  length 
came  to  where  it  abruptly  turned  and  entered  it.  After  cross- 
ing a  strip  of  cane  about  two  hundred  yards  wide,  with  a 
small  lagoon  near  the  center  of  it,  spanned  by  a  rude  bridge 
of  logs,  I  came  to  a  small  prairie  perhaps  a  mile  in  length 
and  half  a  mile  wide,  a  consideiable  part  of  which  had  been 
in  cultivation.  At  the  farther  end  of  this  prairie  I  saw  a 
house,  to  which  the  trail  I  was  following  seemed  to  lead. 
When  I  had  approached  to  within  three  or  four  hundred 
yards  of  the  house,  I  halted  for  a  few  moments  to  make  sure 
whether  or  not  there  was  any  one  about  the  premises.  I 
I  heard  the  crowing  of  chicken  cocks  and  the  squealing  of 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  107 

pigs,  but  as  I  saw  no  smoke  issuing  from  any  of  the  chim- 
neys or  any  other  signs  to  indicate  that  the  house  was  occu- 
pied, I  ventured  up.  There  were  a  great  many  chickens, 
ducks  and  pigs  in  the  yard,  but  no  dogs  came  to  welcome  us. 
The  house  was  a  comfortable  log  building,  consisting  of  four 
rooms  with  a  wide  passage  between  them  and  a  broad  piazza. 
in  front,  and  was  sheltered  by  some  large  live  oak  and  pecan 
trees.  Everything  in  the  house  remained  just  as  it  was  when 
abandoned  by  the  occupants,  which  convinced  me  that  it 
never  had  been  discovered  by  the  Mexicans.  Indeed  so  se- 
cluded was  the  locality  and  so  completely  hidden  from  view 
by  the  strip  of  tall  cane  on  the  lagoon  before  mentioned, 
that  no  one  passing  along  the  main  prairie  outside  would  have 
suspected  there  was  a  settlement  in  the  vicinity. 

This  house  was  furnished  even  in  better  style  than  the  one 
I  stopped  at  last,  which,  together  with  the  number  of  out- 
houses and  negro  quarters,  convinced  me  it  had  been  the 
residence  of  a  wealthy  planter.  In  the  barns  and  cribs  I 
found  a  large  quantity  of  corn,  potatoes,  etc.,  and  plenty  of 
sugar  and  coffee  in  a  store-room. 

By  the  time  I  had  made  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
premises,  the  day  was  pretty  well  spent,  and  I  determined  to 
take  up  my  quarters  for  the  night  in  the  house.  Besides,  it 
had  clouded  up  and  a  cold,  misting  rain  had  begun  to  fall. 
I  therefore  proceeded  to  make  myself  at  home  without  the 
least  ceremony.  I  lolled  upon  the  sofa,  read  the  books, 
smoked  a  pipe  (which  the  proprietor  of  the  premises  had  left 
behind  in  the  hurry  of  departure,  with  a  box  of  tobacco), 
and  after  I  had  supped  sumptuously  on  boiled  eggs  and  peach 
preserves,  I  turned  into  a  large  double  bed  that  looked  as  if 
it  had  just  been  spread  for  my  special  accommodation,  and 
with  Scout  keeping  watch  at  the  door  I  slept  like  a  prince 
until  the  sun  was  an  hour  high. 

For  my  breakfast  I  had  fried  chicken,  ash  cake,  boiled  eggs, 


I os  tiitrly  Times  in  Texas. 

coffee  and  honey.  After  breakfast,  I  filled  my  knapsack  with 
fresh  provisions,  and  bidding  adieu  as  I  thought  forever  to 
these  pleasant  quarters,  I  set  out  again  to  search  for  a  road 
that  would  lead  me  across  the  brake.  Little  did  I  think  that 
five  days  would  pass  before  I  bade  a  final  farewell  to  these 
quarters — yet  such  was  the  fact. 

All  that  day  I  searched  for  a  road  that  would  lead  me 
across  the  interminable  cane  brake  that  barred  my  further 
progress.  Occasionally  I  would  fall  into  a  cattle  or  deer  trail 
leading  into  it,  but  they  either  gave  out  entirely  after  pene- 
trating it  a  short  distance,  or  else  split  up  into  half  a  dozen 
blind  paths  that  did  not  seem  to  lead  anywhere  or  in  any  par- 
ticular direction.  Wearied  and  disheartened  by  my  failure 
to  find  a  road,  I  returned  to  my  domicil,  feasted  again  on  fried 
chicken,  eggs,  honey,  etc.,  and  again  took  possesion  of  my 
double  bed  for  the  night. 

The  next  day  this  same  programme  was  gone  through  with 
and  the  next,  and  the  next,  with  the  same  results,  and  I  al- 
most began  to  despair  of  ever  finding  a  way  through  this 
apparently  endless  wilderness  of  cane,  briers  and  brush. 
However,  it  was  some  consolation  to  me  to  know  that  after 
the  fatigues  and  disappointments  of  the  day,  I  had  such  com. 
fortable  quarters  to  fall  back  upon  at  night. 

Nevertheless,  as  I  was  very  anxious  to  get  on  as  speedily 
as  possible,  I  left  my  domicil  one  morning  with  the  determin- 
ation that  1  would  follow  the  brake  up  to  the  head  of  old 
Caney,  providing  I  could  find  no  road  crossing  it.  I  went  on 
up  the  brake,  examining  closely  every  nook  and  indentation 
without  success,  until  I  had  traveled,  as  I  suppose,  five  or  six 
miles.  Here  I  struck  out  into  the  open  prairie,  to  avoid  a 
deep  lagoon  that  lay  in  the  way,  and  ere  long  I  came  to  a 
well  beaten  road,  running  almost  parallel  with  the  brake. 
This  road  had  evidently  been  traveled  a  day  or  so  previously 
by  a  large  body  of  cavalry.  I  concluded  I  would  follow  it  a 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  109 

short  distance,  and  was  going  along  leisurely,  when  I  heard 
the  clattering  of  horses'  hoofs  behind  me,  and  turning  to  look, 
I  saw  a  troop  of  Mexican  lancers  advancing  rabidly,  not 
more  than  four  or  five  hundred  yards  distant.  There  was  not 
a  tree  or  bush  to  screen  me,  nearer  than  the  brake,  at  least 
hah  a  mile  to  my  right,  and  I  knew  it  would  be  impossible 
for  me  to  reach  it  before  I  was  overtaken  by  the  lancers.  For 
a  moment  I  gave  myself  up  for  lost,  but  fortunately  on  one 
side  of  the  road  there  was  a  patch  of  rank  dead  grass,  and 
as  there  was  no  time  for  consideration,  I  seized  Scout  by  the 
neck,  dragged  him  twenty  or  thirty  paces  into  the  grass,  threw 
him  down  and  laid  myself  by  his  side,  holding  him  tightly  by 
the  muzzle  to  prevent  him  from  growling  or  barking  at  the 
lancers  as  they  passed. 

In  a  few  moments  they  came  up  and  when  opposite  the 
place  where  Scout  and  I  were  hidden,  they  halted.  I  could 
see  them  plainly  through  the  grass,  and  could  hear  them 
talking,  but  not  with  sufficient  distinctness  to  understand 
what  was  said. 

Scout,  too,  was  aware  of  their  proximity,  and  when  they 
halted  he  gave  a  low  growl,  and  tried  to  get  up,  but  I  choked 
him  severely  until  he  lay  quiet.  The  lancers  had  evidently 
caught  a  glimpse  of  us  before  we  left  the  road,  for  after  they 
halted,  several  dismounted  and  examined  the  road  for  tracks, 
but  luckily  at  that  place  the  ground  was  gravelly  and  hard, 
and  my  boots  had  left  no  distinct  traces  on  it. 

At  length,  satisfied  I  suppose  they  had  seen  nothing,  or 
what  they  had  seen  was  only  a  couple  of  wolves  or  wild  hogs, 
those  that  had  dismounted  to  examine  the  road  for  "sign" 
sprang  into  their  saddles,  and  they  all  rode  on  at  a  gallop. 
As  soon  as  I  saw  they  were  fairly  off,  I  drew  a  long  breath, 
and  I  think  Scout  did  so  too,  for  I  had  choked  him  until  his 
tongue  lolled  out.  .When  the  lancers  had  got  to  a  safe  dis- 
tance, I  loosened  my  grasp  from  his  neck  and  let  him  up. 


110  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

-But  he  never  forgot  the  lesson  I  gave  him  on  that  occasion, 
and  whenever  I  wished  him  to  lie  down  and  keep  quiet,  I  had 
only  to  place  my  hand  on  his  neck,  when  he  would  crouch 
down  and  remain  as  still  as  a  mouse  until  I  told  him  to  rise. 
Thankful  for  what  under  the  circumstances  seemed  to  me  al- 
most a  miraculous  escape,  I  took  my  way  back  to  the  timber* 
resolved  that  henceforth  I  would  keep  a  better  look  out,  and 
travel  as  little  as  possible  in  daylight,  through  the  open 
prairies. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

BEARS  AROUND  THE  CAMP—  RETURN  TO  "MY"  DOMICIL — MAKE 
MYSELF  AT  HOME  AGAIN — LOBO  WOLVES — ANOTHER  START — 
JOINTED  SNAKE — FRIGHTEN  A  DROVE  OF  MUSTANGS — Dis" 
APPOINTED  AND  RETURN  "HOME" — DIFFICULTY  OF  TRAVEL- 
ING THROUGH  THE  PRAIRIES — MOCCASINS  VERSUS  SHOES — 
AGAIN  IN  SEARCH  OF  A  ROAD — NIGHT  ALARMS — IMMENSE 
TURKEY  ROOST. 

When  •!  reached  the  woods  the  sun  was  about  setting  and 
as  it  was  too  far  to  think  of  returning  to  my  "domicil,"  selec- 
ted a  suitable  locality  and  encamped  for  the  night.  During 
the  night  several  large  animals  which  I  supposed  to  be  bear 
came  around  camp,  and  the  noise  they  made  in  the  cane,  kept 
Scout  in  such  constant  state  of  excitement,  that  I  am  sure  he 
got  but  little  sleep. 

The  next  morning,  I  retraced  my  way  down  the  brake,  and 
about  midday  reached  my  quarters,  where  I  found  every- 
thing as  I  had  left  it  the  day  before.  After  feasting  again  on 
fried  chicken,  sweet  potatoes  and  hot  coffee,  I  took  a  seat  on 
the  porch,  with  a  volume  of  Don  Quixote  (which  I  read  for 
the  first  time  at  this  house),  and  cocking  my  feet  up  on  the 
bannisters,  I  made  myself  comfortable  for  the  rest  of  the 
evening. 

Whilst  I  was  thus  taking  "mine  ease  in  mine  inn,"  it  occur- 
red to  me  that  if  Mahomet  couldn't  get  to  the  mountain,  per- 
haps the  mountain  might  come  to  Mahomet — in  other  words, 
if  I  couldn't  get  to  the  Texan  army,  perhaps  it  would  be  just 
as  well  to  remain  where  I  was  until  the  Texans  whipped  the 
Mexicans  and  re-occupied  the  country.  That  they  would  do 
so  eventually  I  had  not  the  slightest  doubt,  although  the  Mex- 


//•_'  /v //•///  Tiiiu'ti  in  Texas. 

icans  had  told  us  when  prisoners  at  Goliad  (for  the  purpose 
of  discouraging  us  and  preventing  us  from  making  any  at- 
tempt to  escape),  that  Santa  Anna  had  defeated  Gen.  Hous- 
ton's army,  and  that  the  whole  country  was  virtually  in  their 
possession.  But  in  fact  I  did  not  seriously  entertain  for  a 
moment  the  idea  of  remaining  any  longer  where  I  was,  com- 
fortable as  were  my  quarters,  than  I  could  possibly  help;  for 
I  knew  very  well  I  would  not  be  satisfied  with  such  an  in- 
active life,  when  my  countrymen  were  all  in  the  field  battling 
against  the  merciless  foe.  So  I  retired  to  my  sleeping  apart- 
ment that  night  with  the  determination  of  renewing  my 
search  for  a  road  the  next  morning,  and  to  persevere  in  it 
until  I  succeeded. 

During  the  night  I  heard  the  howl  of  several  "lobo"  wolves 
very  near  the  house,  but  of  course  I  did  not  fear  them  within 
the  walls  of  my  castle.  The  fact  is,  I  did  not  fear  anything 
except  a  visit  from  marauding  parties  of  Mexicans  or  Indians, 
against  whom  neither  the  log  walls  of  my  castle  nor  my  two 
formidable  looking  carving  knives  would  have  afforded  me 
much  protection.  Audubon,  who  is  a  recognized  authority 
upon  the  subject  of  birds,  if  not  of  beasts,  told  me  that  the 
lobo  was  the  largest  known  species  of  wolf  in  the  world,  and 
certainly  they  are  much  larger  than  any  on  the  American 
continent.  They  resemble  the  hyena  in  form  as  much  or 
more  than  they  do  that  of  the  common  wolf.  Their  howl  is 
also  very  different,  and  when  camping  out  alone  on  the 
prairies,  it  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  most  mournful, 
doleful  and  "lonesome"  sound  I  ever  heard.  Several  in- 
stances have  been  known  since  the  settlement  of  Texas  of 
their  attacking  travelers  when  benighted  on  the  prairies,  and 
I  was  once  myself  with  a  party  of  rangers  who  rescued  a  way- 
farer from  their  clutches,  and  who,  but  for  our  timely  arrival, 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  torn  to  pieces  by  them. 

Nothing  else  occurred  to  disturb  me  during  the  night,  and 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  113 

the  next  morning  I  rose  betimes,  and  as  soon  as  breakfast  was 
over  I  shouldered  my  knapsack  and  set  out,  intending  to 
make  a  thorough  search  for  a  road  along  the  edge  of  the 
brake  below.  In  the  bottom  to-day  I  noticed  that  many  of 
the  trees  were  putting  forth  their  leaves,  an  indication  that 
spring  had  fairly  set  in,  and  a  variety  of  wild  flowers  were 
also  beginning  to  make  their  appearance  on  the  prairie. 

To-day  I  came  across  a  specimen  of  the  jointed  snake,  the 
first  I  had  ever  seen.  It  was  a  small  snake,  not  more  than 
fifteen  or  twenty  inches  in  length,  and  its  skin  had  a  vitrified 
or  glassy  appearance.  It  seemed  to  be  rather  sluggish  and 
unwieldly,  and  when  I  struck  it  a  slight  tap  with  a  small 
stick,  to  my  great  astonishment,  it  broke  into  half  a  dozen 
pieces,  each  piece  hopping  off  in  a  very  lively  way  "on  its 
own  hook."  I  have  since  heard  it  asserted,  that  after  a  time 
the  broken  parts  of  the  snake  will  come  together  and  reunite 
and  then  crawl  off  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to  it;  but  I 
shall  always  be  doubtful  of  the  story  until  satisfactory  vouch- 
ers of  its  truth,  duly  authenticated  and  sworn  to,  are  pro- 
duced. 

About  midday  I  noticed  a  cloud  of  dust  rising  in  the 
prairie  way  off  to  my  right,  caused,  as  I  at  first  supposed  by 
a  large  body  of  troops  in  motion.  I  was  traveling  near  the 
edge  of  the  cane  brake,  both  for  greater  security  and  for  fear 
I  might  pass  by  without  observing  it,  some  road  leading 
across.  I  therefore  quickly  concealed  myself  behind  a  small 
thicket,  from  whence  I  could  see  all  that  was  passing  on  the 
prairie.  Presently  I  saw  issue  from  the  cloud  of  dust  a  dense 
body  of  horses,  which,  on  their  nearer  approach,  I  perceived 
were  "uncurbed  by  bit  and  riderless."  I  supposed  there 
were  at  least  six  or  seven  hundred  in  the  drove.  I  saw  they 
would  pass  within  a  short  distance  of  the  thicket  where  I  was 
concealed,  and  when  nearly  opposite,  I  suddenly  sprang  out 
in  full  view  of  them  and  gave  a  loud  whoop.  They  halted  at 


HI  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

once  and  with  heads  erect,  stood  for  an  instant  looking  at  me 
in  astonishment,  then  with  the  precision  of  a  troop  of  cav- 
alry, they  wheeled  about  and  went  back  in  the  direction  they 
had  come. 

I  continued  on  my  way,  and  when  I  supposed  I  had  traveled 
at  least  six  or  seven  miles  from  where  I  had  started,  to  my 
great  joy  I  came  to  a  plain  road,  running  from  the  prairie 
into  the  brake.  I  felt  confident  it  would  take  me  through  it, 
but  when  I  followed  it  a  hundred  yards  or  so  into  the  brake, 
it  came  to  an  abrupt  termination  at  a  place  where  a  large 
tree  had  been  cut  down  and  split  into  boards!  There  was 
not  a  vestige  of  a  road  beyond  that  point — nothing  but  almost 
solid  walls  of  tall  canes  matted  together  with  green  briers 
and  vines. 

Sadly  disappointed  and  dispirited,  I  retraced  my  steps  to 
the  prairie,  and  thence  back  towards — what  I  began  now  to 
regard  as  my  permanent  home,  where  I  arrived  a  little  after 
sunset,  so  "beat  out"  with  my  day's  tramp  that  I  turned  into 
my  bed  supperless,  and  slept  like  a  log  until  roused  at  day- 
light by  the  crowing  of  my  chickens  and  the  squealing  of  my 
pigs.  It  may  seem  strange  to  some,  that  one  accustomed  to 
walking  as  I  was,  and  after  living  upon  the  "fat  of  the  land" 
as  I  had  of  late,  should  have  been  so  much  fatigued  by  a  lit- 
tle tramp  of  twelve  or  fifteen  miles — but  that  was  precisely 
"what  was  the  matter  with  Hanna."  After  starving  for  so 
long  a  time,  I  had  indulged  too  freely  in  "fried  chicken;"  and 
besides,  walking  through  the  woods  and  prairies  is  not  like 
traveling  on  a  well  beaten  road.  In  the  former  your  progress 
is  often  necessarily  slow  and  laborious  on  account  of  having 
to  force  your  way  through  rank  grass  and  many  creeping 
vines,  that  are  constantly  entangling  one's  legs,  and  occasion- 
ally tripping  one  up.  Moreover  the  soles  of  your  shoes  soon 
become  as  slick  as  glass  by  rubbing  on  dry  leaves  and  grass, 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  115 

so  that  you  are  frequently  slipping  backward  instead  of  going 
forward. 

Being  determined  to  persevere  in  my  attempt  to  find  a  road 
that  would  enable  me  to  cross  the  brake,  the  next  morning  I 
shouldered  my  knapsack,  and  set  out  again  in  the  direction  I 
had  taken  two  days  previously  when  I  made  such  a  narrow 
escape  from  the  lancers.  Scout  evidently  seemed  to  think  I 
was  wandering  about  in  a  very  aimless  way,  nevertheless  he 
trotted  along  after  me  without  asking  any  questions. 

I  traveled  up  the  brake  a  mile  or  so  beyond  the  point  where 
I  had  turned  back  on  the  former  occasion,  examining  closely 
every  nook  and  bend  for  trails  or  roads.  In  this  way  I  dis- 
covered one  or  two  that  had  escaped  my  observation  on  my 
previous  trip,  but  they  "petered  out"  after  going  a  short  dis- 
tance into  the  cane. 

Finding  no  road  or  trail  to  answer  my  purpose,  and  night 
coming  on,  I  encamped  in  some  timber  near  the  edge  of  the 
cane.  A  little  after  dark  I  heard  a  great  many  turkeys  flying 
up  to  roost  in  the  trees  around  my  camp.  The  wolves  howled 
incessantly,  and  once  the  sharp  scream  of  a  panther  close  by 
roused  Scout  from  his  slumber  and  he  dashed  off  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  sound,  but  very  soon  came  running  back  with  his 
tail  between  his  legs.  It  was  evident  he  wanted  my  "moral 
support,"  but  I  declined  hunting  panthers  in  the  night  with  a 
carving  knife.  I  felt  no  fear  of  them,  however,  in  camp,  as  I 
had  a  blazing  fire,  which  I  took  especial  care  to  keep  well 
supplied  with  fuel.  I  have  been  told  that  in  India  tigers 
have  been  known  to  come  up  to  camp-fires  and  seize  upon 
persons  sleeping  near  them.  This  may  be  true,  but  there  is 
no  wild  beast  (with  the  exception  perhaps  of  the  grizzly 
bear)  on  the  North  American  continent  that  will  venture  so 
near  a  blazing  fire — at  least  I  have  never  heard  of  an  instance 
of  the  kind  during  the  many  years  I  have  lived  on  the  fron- 
tiers. 


un  Early  Times  in  Texas 

At  daylight  I  was  aroused  from  my  slumbers  by  the  cluck- 
ing and  gobbling  of  turkeys.  There  must  have  been  several 
hundred  of  them  upon  the  trees  within  fifty  yards  of  where  I 
was  lying.  One  fat  old  fellow  was  sitting  upon  a  limb  not 
more  than  thirty  feet  from  me,  strutting  and  gobbling  in  the 
most  impudent  way.  It  seemed  to  me  he  knew  I  was  partic- 
ularly fond  of  roast  turkey,  and  that  he  was  "cutting  up  his 
didoes"  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  tantalize  me  with  the 
display  of  his  goodly  proportions.  Even  when  I  got  up  and 
walked  towards  him,  he  took  no  notice  of  me,  until  I  threw  a 
stick  at  him,  when  he  uttered  an  exclamation  something  like 
"what!"  and  soared  away  to  his  feeding  grounds. 

After  breakfast  I  continued  my  route  along  the  edge  of  the 
brake.  When  I  had  gone  about  two  miles,  I  noticed  a  house 
on  the  prairie  near  a  small  grove  of  timber,  half  a  mile  or  so 
to  my  left,  and  I  concluded  to  go  out  and  examine  the  prem- 
ises. The  house  was  a  small  log  .cabin,  surrounded  by  an 
enclosure  containing  perhaps  a  dozen  or  fifteen  acres.  It 
was  poorly  furnished  and  I  saw  nothing  about  the  premises 
except  some  ducks  and  chickens. 


OHAPTEK  XX. 

I  LAY  IN  A  SUPPLY  OF  POULTRY — I  ASTONISH  A  COUPLE  OF  MEX- 
ICANS— THEIR  SINGULAR  MOVEMENT — "COUNCIL  OF  WAR"- 
RETURN  AGAIN  TO  MY  OLD  QUARTERS — FIND  A  ROAD  ACROSS 
THE  BRAKE  AT  LAST — ENCOUNTER  WITH  TWO  BEARS. 

As  I  did  not  know  how  long  it  might  be  before  I  should 
have  a  chance  at  "fried  chicken"  again,  I  determined  to  take 
toll  out  of  the  poultry  about  this  house.  With  the  assistance 
of  Scout  I  soon  caught  and  killed  two  fat  pullets  and  a  duck, 
which  I  tied  on  the  outside  of  my  knapsack.  I  then  took  a 
plain  road  running  near  the  house  and  nearly  parallel  with 
the  brake,  and  when  I  had  gone  about  a  mile  I  met  with  an 
adventure  that  terminated  in  the  most  singular  and  unac- 
countable manner.  The  road  at  that  point  was  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  from  the  brake.  How  it  happened  I  did  not 
see  them  sooner,  I  cannot  imagine,  unless  I  had  fallen  into 
what  the  negroes  call  a  "fit  of  the  mazes,"  but  at  any  rate  I 
suddenly  found  myself  nearly  opposite  to  two  Mexican  sol- 
diers who  were  seated  on  the  grass  about  forty  paces  to  the 
left  of  the  road.  One  of  them  was  armed  with  a  musket  and 
the  other  with  a  lance,  similar  to  those  I  had  seen  used  by 
Mexican  cavalry.  Near  them  a  horse,  saddled,  was  grazing, 
and  one  of  the  soldiers  held  the  end  of  his  lariat  in  his  hand. 
I  have  since  thought  the  horse  must  have  been  lying  down 
until  I  came  near  them,  as  otherwise  I  think  I  would  have 
seen  him  sooner.  As  I  have  stated,  it  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
at  least  to  the  nearest  part  of  the  brake,  and  the  idea  flashed 
across  my  mind  that  after  all  my  narrow  escapes  I  was  cer- 
tainly caught  at  last.  Retreat  to  the  brake  I  knew  was  im- 
possible, as  they  could  easily  overtake  me  on  the  horse,  and 


US  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

for  a  moment  I  stood  irresolute  not  knowing  what  course  to 
pursue.  But  the  very  hopelessness  of  the  case  produced  a 
feeling  of  recklessness  as  to  consequences,  and  I  leisurely 
continued  my  way  along  the  road;  at  the  same  time  trying 
to  look  as  unconcerned  as  possible  and  as  if  I  didn't  know 
(and  didn't  care)  that  a  Mexican  soldier  was  within  five  miles 
of  me.  All  the  while  however,  I  was  watching  them  closely. 
As  I  passed  them,  they  made  no  movement  except  to  turn 
their  heads  and  gaze  at  me  apparently  in  the  utmost  astonish- 
ment, which  considering  the  figure  I  cut,  just  at  that  time,  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
I  presented  a  very  singular  and  anomalous  appearance.  I  was 
tanned  by  long  exposure  to  sun  and  weather  until  I  was  nearly 
as  dark  as  an  Indian;  my  cap  resembled  a  Turkish  turban, 
the  leather  front  having  been  long  since  carried  away  in  some 
of  its  frequent  encounters  with  green  briers  and  other  thorny 
shrubs;  my  hunting  shirt  was  ragged  and  blackened  with 
smoke,  and  my  pantaloons,  or  what  remained  of  them,  were 
buttonless,  and  held  up  by  a  broad  leather  belt,  from  which 
a  tin  cup  hung  dangling  on  one  side  and  two  long  carving 
knives  on  the  other,  and  to  complete  this  unique  costume,  my 
shoulders  were  surmounted  by  a  portly  knapsack,  to  which 
were  tied  the  two  pullets  and  the  duck  I  had  just  killed.  This 
"tout  ensemble"  of  course  accounts  reasonably  enough  for 
the  astonishment  with  which  the  soldiers  gazed  upon  me  as  I 
passed,  but  still  it  does  not  satisfactorily  explain  their  subse- 
quent movements,  especially  as  they  could  plainly  see  that 
with  the  exception  of  my  two  carving  knives,  I  had  no  arms. 
However,  they  did  not  move  until  I  had  gone  forty  or  fifty 
yards  beyond  them,  when  both  suddenly  rose  to  their  feet  and 
hastily  mounted  their  horse,  one  behind  the  other.  I  of  course 
supposed  they  intended  to  pursue  me,  but  to  my  great  wonder 
and  astonishment  as  well  as  relief,  they  went  off  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  across  the  prairie,  as  fast  as  they  could  urge 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  119 

their  horse  on  with  whip  and  spur.  The  one  mounted  behind 
had  a  short  heavy  whip  called  a  "quirt,"  and  as  far  as  I  could 
see  them  distinctly,  his  quirt  was  incessantly  and  vigorously 
applied  to  the  flanks  of  their  steed,  and  every  now  and  then 
I  could  see  them  looking  back  as  if  they  expected  me  to  pur- 
sue them. 

What  they  took  me  for  I  am  at  loss  to  imagine,  but  if  they 
had  taken  me  for  Old  Nick  himself  I  would  not  have  quar- 
reled with  them  on  that  score,  in  consideration  of  the  expe- 
ditious manner  in  which  they  had  left  the  field — not  staying 
even  to  say  "adios." 

For  fear,  however,  I  might  not  prove  to  be  such  a  terrible 
object  to  other  straggling  parties  of  Mexicans  whom  I  might 
possibly  meet  with  on  this  road,  I  left  it,  and  did  not  halt  un- 
til I  came  to  the  brake.  There  I  stopped  to  rest  a  while,  and 
hold  a  "council  of  war"  with  Scout,  as  to  what  was  to  be  done 
next.  Scout,  although  he  expressed  no  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject, I  know  was  strongly  in  favor  of  going  back  to  the  "flesh 
pots  of  Egypt,"  and  finally  we  agreed  to  return  to  our  old 
quarters.  I  had  noticed  an  old  axe  there  in  one  of  the  out- 
houses on  the  place,  and  I  determined  to  set  to  work  regu- 
larly and  cut  my  way  with  it  through  the  brake,  if  it  took  me 
a  month  to  do  it.  It  seemed  very  strange  to  me  at  the  time, 
that  the  settlers  on  old  Caney  did  not  cut  roads  through  it 
when  they  retreated  before  the  Mexican  army.  But  subse- 
quently, when  I  mentioned  the  matter  to  one  who  lived  on 
Caney  when  the  settlers  abandoned  their  homes  there,  he  told 
me  that  all  living  on  the  south  side  had  cut  roads  from  their 
houses  across  the  brake,  but  that  in  every  instance  they  had 
some  circuitous  way  to  reach  them,  and  that  no  sign  of  a  road 
was  visible  on  the  edge  of  the  brake.  This  statement  was 
confirmed  to  some  extent  by  the  fact  that  no  one,  unless  close- 
ly searching  for  it  as  I  was,  would  have  suspected  the  exist- 
ence of  a  road  where  I  found  one. 


r.'ti  Kuril/   Times  in   Texas. 

In  pursuance  of  the  course  I  had  determined  to  follow, 
after  resting  a  while,  Scout  and  I  started  back  to  our  old 
quarters,  and  about  an  hour  before  sunset  I  crossed  the  strip 
of  ca.ne  and  the  bridge  of  logs  over  the  bayou  and  entered 
the  little  prairie  in  which  my  domicil  was  situated.  As  I  was 
proceeding  leisurely  towards  the  house,  it  occurred  to  me 
that  it  might  be  well  to  examine  again  the  north  side  of  the 
prairie  bordering  the  main  brake  which  heretofore  I  had  only 
partially  done.  With  this  intention  I  left  the  path  I  was  fol- 
lowing, and  when  I  had  gone  a  few  hundred  yards  I  came  to 
a  trail  leading  towards  the  brake  along  which  the  marks  of 
wagon  wheels  were  dimly  visible.  This  I  followed  until  it  led 
me  into  an  indentation  in  the  brake,  which  was  so  narrow  and 
so  well  concealed  by  bushes  and  eane  as  to  be  barely  percep- 
tible at  the  distance  of  a  few  paces.  Still  following  the  traces 
of  wagon  wheels,  I  came  on  the  farther  side  of  this  nook  to 
a  newly  cut  road  wide  enough  for  the  passage  of  a  wagon 
and  team. 

I  was  satisfied  that  at  last  I  had  found  what  I  had  been  so 
long  in  search  of,  but  in  order  to  assure  myself  of  the  fact, 
I  followed  the  road  for  nearly  half  a  mile  into  the  brake,  and 
as  it  still  ran  on  in  the  same  direction  I  was  convinced  it 
would  take  me  through.  By  this  time  the  sun  had  set,  and  I 
concluded  to  return  once  more  to  my  old  quarters,  and  make 
an  early  start  in  the  mornins;. 

As  I  walked  along  my  attention  was  suddenly  drawn  to  two 
large  black  objects  in  the  road  a  short  distance  ahead  of  me. 
I  stopped  a  moment  to  ascertain  what  they  were,  and  as  I  did 
so,  Scout  gave  a  low  growl  and  retreated  behind  me.  By  the 
dim  light  that  struggled  through  the  overlapping  canes  I  at 
length  discovered  that  these  black  objects  were  two  large 
bears,  standing  perfectly  still  in  the  road,  and  apparently 
waiting  for  us  to  come  up.  For  an  instant  I  thought  of  re- 
treating, but  on  reflection,  as  I  had  never  heard  of  any  one 


Adrcnhires-of  Jack  Dobell.  121 

being  attacked  by  black  bears  unless  wounded,  I  screwed  up 
my  courage  (nearly  breaking  the  screw-driver  in  the  attempt) 
and  resolved  to  pass  them  if  I  could.  There  was  no  chance 
to  go  around  them,  for  the  cane  was  so  thick  on  both  sides  of 
the  road,  I  might  almost  as  well  have  tried  to  penetrate  a 
solid  wall.  So  I  drew  my  longest  carving  knife,  and  boldly 
(apparently)  advanced  towards  them.  They  stood  perfectly 
still  until  I  was  within  eight  or  ten  feet  of  them,  when  they 
commenced  growling,  and  looked  so  large  and  ferocious,  and 
so  bent  on  disputing  my  right  of  way,  I  felt  more  than  half 
inclined  (as  Scout  had  done  already)  "to  tuck  my  tail"  and 
beat  a  hasty  retreat.  But  I  knew  it  was  too  late  to  turn  back, 
and  that  any  show  of  timidity  would  embolden  them  to  attack* 
if  they  had  not  intended  doing  so.  I  therefore  continued  to 
advance,  and  my  apparent  boldness  seemed  to  daunt  them  a 
little  (if  they  had  only  known  how  badly  I  was  scared  I  am 
sure  they  would  have  seized  me)  and  when  almost  near  enough 
to  have  touched  them,  one  of  them  sullenly  drew  off  to  one 
side  of  the  road  and  one  to  the  other,  and  Scout  and  I  passed 
between  them.  As  we  went  between  them,  they  showed  their 
white  teeth  and  growled  so  fiercely  that  every  instant  I  expect- 
ed they  would  rush  upon  us,  but  they  did  not,  nor  did  they  at- 
tempt to  follow  us.  All  the  while  Scout  kept  close  at  my  heels 
with  his'tail  between  his  legs — the  first  and  last  time  I  ever 
saw  him  completely  cowed. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  black  bear  never  attacks  a  man,  un- 
less wounded  or  brought  to  bay,  and  I  do  not  say  positively 
that  these  two  had  any  intention  of  making  their  supper  on 
us,  but  to  say  the  least  of  it,  their  bearing  towards  us  was  ex- 
ceedingly suspicious;  and  besides,  I  thought  they  might  just 
as  well  kill  a  fellow  at  once  as  to  scare  him  to  death.  At  any 
rate  Scout  and  I  congratulated  ourselves  (at  least  I  know  I 
did),  when  we  were  once  more  safe  within  the  four  walls  of  our 
house. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD — SETTLE  MY  BOARD  BILL  WITH 
A  PROMISORY  NOTE — BID  FAREWELL  TO  MY   COMFORTABLE 

QUARTERS  AND   LEAVE IMMENSE  CANE  BRAKE DODGE  A 

MEXICAN  SOLDIER,  AND  A  PARTY  OF  INDIANS—  BEARS  AROUND 
CAMP. 

I  rose  early  next  morning  to  prepare  as  much  provision  for 
the  road  as  I  could  conveniently  carry.  I  cooked  the  duck 
and  one  of  the  pullets  I  had  killed  the  day  before  (Scout  and 
I  had  demolished  the  other  for  breakfast),  and  ground  a  gal- 
lon or  so  of  meal  on  on  a  steel  mill.  Besides  these,  my  sup- 
plies consisted  of  five  or  six  pounds  of  bacon,  several  pounds 
of  sugar,  two  pounds  of  coffee  parched  and  ground,  some  salt 
and  pepper,  and  two  bottles  of  honey.  This,  I  thought,  with 
care  would  last  us  eight  or  ten  days,  even  if  we  found  noth- 
ing on  the  road.  I  also  had  a  tin  cup  for  making  coffee,  and 
of  course  my  two  carving  knives  which  I  had  sharpened  on 
a  whetstone  were  as  keen  as  razors.  For  these  I  had  made 
scabbards  out  of  a  piece  of  leather  and  sewed  them  to  my 
belt.  When  ready  to  start  I  scribbled  with  a  bit  of  charcoa 
the  following  "due  bill"  upon  the  wall  of  my  sleeping  apart- 
ment: '••  —  an  American  captured  by  the  Mexicans  but  es- 
caped from  them  at  Goliad,  is  indebted  to  the  proprietor  of 
this  house  for  one  week's  board  and  lodging  and  some  extras, 
and  will  pay  the  same  on  demand."  The  extras  referred  to 
consisted  of  articles  of  clothing,  pipe  and  tobacco,  etc.  This 
note  has  never  been  presented  for  payment,  and  I  suppose  it 
is  barred  now  by  the  statute  of  limitation — nevertheless,  I 
would  cheerfully  pay  the  principal  now — but  not  the  interest, 
for  that  would  put  the  amount  far  above  my  present  assets,  and  I 


Adventures  of  Jack  DobelL  12.3 

should  be  compelled  to  take  the  benefit  of  the  Bankrupt  Act. 
Having  thus  settled  my  board  bill  on  such  easy  terms,  I  shoul- 
dered my  knapsack,  stuck  my  carving  knives  into  my  belt, 
and  followed  by  Scout,  I  took  my  way  towards  the  road  I  had 
found  the  evening  before. 

Just  as  I  was  entering  the  brake,  I  turned  to  take  a  last  look 
at  the  house  that  had  been  a  haven  of  rest  to  me  after  my 
wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  and  I  experienced  a  feeling  of 
regret  when  I  thought  that  in  all  probability  I  should  never 
see  it  again.  There  I  had  truly  been  "the  monarch  of  all  I 
surveyed."  I  could  loll  upon  the  sofas — tumble  up  the  beds — 
wipe  the  mud  from  my  boots  on  the  rugs  and  carpets — smoke 
tobacco  (by  no  means  of  the  best  quality)  in  the  drawing 
room — select  my  own  "menu''  from  the  well  stored  pantry 
and  the  poultry  in  the  yard — and  there  was  none  to  say  me 
nay.  Even  now  I  look  back  with  pleasant  recollections  to 
my  sojourn  in  those  comfortable  quarters,  for  it  was  the  only 
time  I  ever  had  complete  and  undisputed  control  of  such  an 
establishment.  "Peace  to  its  ashes"  if,  as  is  highly  probable* 
it  was  subsequently  burned  by  the  Mexicans. 

As  I  passed  the  place  where  I  had  encountered  my  doubt- 
ful friends  the  two  bears  the  evening  before,  I  noticed  many 
of  their  tracks  in  the  mud  on  the  side  of  the  road.  They 
were  very  much  like  the  tracks  made  by  a  bare-footed  man 
(no  pun  intended  for  I  detest  puns),  except  that  the  heel  part 
was  as  long  as  the  toe.  After  traveling  I  suppose  between 
three  and  four  miles,  crossing  on  the  way  a  sluggish  bayou, 
over  which  I  "cooned  it"  on  a  fallen  tree,  to  my  great  satis- 
faction I  saw  light  ahead,  and  in  a  short  time  came  to  the 
open  prairie. 

At  that  day  as  I  have  before  stated,  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
bottoms  on  old  Caney  was  covered  by  an  unbroken  cane- 
brake  sixty  or  seventy  miles  long  and  from  three  to  five  in 
width.  This  I  had  from  others  who  were  settlers  in  that  pxor- 


rji  Kin-la  Timrs  in  Texas 

tion  of  the  country  at  an  early  day,  and  the  statement  is 
probably  correct.  The  soil  of  this  brake  is  exceedingly  fer- 
tile, and  the  time  will  come  no  doubt,  when  it  will  be  con- 
verted into  one  continuous  sugar  and  cotton  plantation.  At 
the  points  where  I  saw  it,  it  was  a  dense  mass  of  cane,  briers 
and  vines,  with  here  and  there  a  scattering  tree  growing  in 
their  midst.  Bears,  panthers,  wild  hogs  and  other  "var- 
mints" were  very  numerous  in  it  and  along  its  borders. 

About  half  a  mile  below  the  place  where  I  came  out  into 
the  open  prairie,  I  saw  a  house  near  the  bottom,  and  as  I  had 
made  it  a  rule  to  search  every  one  I  passed  for  guns  and  am- 
munition,  I  started  with  that  intention  towards  the  one  in 
question.     I  kept  well  under  the  shelter  of  some  timber  bor- 
dering the  brake,  to  screen  myself  from  the  view  of  any  one 
who  might  be  about  the  premises.     In  this  timber  I  struck  a 
plain  trail  leading  towards  the  house,  which  I  took.  I  followed 
it  perhaps  a  hundred   yards  or  so,   when  as  I  turned  a  short 
bend  in  the  path,  I  caught  sight  of  a  Mexican   soldier,   with 
his  gun  on  his  shoulder,  walking  rapidly  towards  me.     Luck- 
ily a  dense  growth  of  bushes   bordered  the  path  at  the  point 
where  I  then  was,  and   although    I   had    but  little  hope  the 
Mexican  had  not  seen  me,  I  instantly  sprang  into  the  bushes 
and  laid  down  among  them.   Scout,  who  evidently  had  not  for- 
gotten the  choking  I  gave  him  on  a  previous  occasion,  quickly 
followed  me,  and  took  his  station  by  my  side.    It  seems,  how- 
ever, the  Mexican  did  notice  us,  for  he  came  on,  and  passed 
within   six  feet  of  us  without  halting.     I  could  almost  have 
touched  him  with  my  longest  carving  knife,   and  if  he  had 
been  a  little  weakly  chap  I  think  I  would  have  been  tempted 
to  spring  suddenly  upon  him  as  he  passed   and  give  him  a 
tussle  for  his  gun,   but  he  was  a  big  strapping  fellow,  and  I 
knew  I  would  have  no  chance  of  coming  off  winner  in  a  hand 
to  hand  encounter  with  him,  even  if  I  had  not  been  hampered 
with  a  heavy  knapsack,  and  other  "impedimenta."     I  con- 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  125 

eluded  therefore  that  "discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor," 
and  did  not  move  until  he  was  hidden  from  my  view  by  a 
turn  of  the  path. 

As  it  was  evident  he  came  from  the  house  I  had  seen,  and 
as  I  thought  it  highly  probable  there  were  "more  ot  the  same 
sort"  there,  I  gave  up  the  idea  of  searching  it  for  guns,  for 
fear  I  might  find  more  of  them  there  than  was  desirable;  so 
I  gave  it  a  wide  berth,  and  striking  off  through  the  woods 
to  the  right  I  came  out  again  to  the  prairie  two  or  three  miles 
below. 

The  day  was  cloudy  and  dark,  and  I  couldn't  see  the  tim- 
ber on  the  opposite  side;  consequently.  I  could  form  no  idea 
of  its  extent.  Besides  (having  made  a  late  start  on  account 
of  being  delayed  in  preparing  provisions  for  the  road),  the 
sun  was  by  this  time  getting  pretty  low,  and  I  thought  it  best 
to  encamp  for  the  night  and  start  anew  in  the  morning. 

In  a  little  open  space  just  within  the  brake,  separated  from 
the  prairie  by  a  very  narrow  strip  of  cane  I  pitched  my  camp; 
in  other  words,  I  pulled  off  my  knapsack,  and  stretched  my- 
self upon  a  bed  of  dry  grass  which  I  had  cut  with  a  knife. 
It  was  too  early  to  cook  supper,  and  as  I  had  no  dread  of 
wild  beasts  till  dark,  I  did  not  start  a  fire,  and  very  fortunate 
it  was  for  me  I  had  not  done  so.  I  was  just  falling  into  a  doze, 
when  Scout  gave  a  low  growl  and  at  the  same  moment  I  heard 
the  tramping  of  horses'  hoofs.  I  looked  through  an  opening 
in  the  strip  of  cane  between  me  and  the  prairie  and  saw  five 
or  six  Indians  who  were  driving  a  number  of  horses,  coming 
along  the  edge  of  the  brake.  Just  as  they  were  opposite  to 
the  spot  where  Scout  and  I  were  lying,  two  of  the  horses  broke 
away  from  the  "caballada,"  ran  through  the  strip  of  cane  and 
nearly  over  us.  One  of  the  Indians  started  after  them,  and 
was  crossing  the  strip  of  cane,  when  the  two  runaways  seeing 
Scout  and  I  lying  upon  the  ground,  suddenly  wheeled  and  ran 
back  to  the  prairie,  and  the  Indian  turned  also  and  followed 


l:><;  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

them.  If  he  had  come  six  feet  further  he  must  inevitably 
have  seen  us.  As  it  was  he  did  not  discover  us,  and  the  In- 
dians and  their  drove  of  horses  soon  passed  out  of  sight. 

These  two  "close  calls"  both  occurring  the  same  day,  con- 
vinced me  that  I  had  but  little  chance  to  make  my  way  safe- 
ly through  a  country  swarming  with  roving  bands  of  Mexicans 
and  Indians;  and  yet,  although  I  passed  their  recent  en- 
campments at  several  places,  I  never  saw  an  Indian  after- 
wards, nor  a  Mexican,  except  some  squads  of  cavalry  a  long 
way  off  on  the  prairie. 

During  the  night  I  heard  bears  crashing  through  the  cane, 
and  splashing  in  the  water  of  the  pool  near  which  I  was  en- 
camped. The  number  of  bears  at  that  day  on  old  Caney  was 
so  great  I  cannot  imagine  how  the  settlers  there  managed  to 
raise  hogs  unless  they  kept  them  constantly  penned  up.  The 
next  morning  I  saw  many  of  their  tracks  on  the  edge  of  the 
pool,  where  they  had  been  digging  up  some  kind  of  plant  with 
a  bulbous  root. 


OHAPTEK  XXII. 

PRAIRIE  ON  FIRE — I  START  A  COUNTER  FIRE — NARROW  ESCAPE 
FROM  DROWNING — LOSE  MY  KNAPSACK  AND  ALL  MY  "GRUB" 

BUT   SAVE   MY  TINDER — A  MlRAGE MEXICAN    CAVALRY 

MEET  WITH  TWO  SPIES  FROM  THE  TEXAN  ARMY  AND  RETURN 
WITH  THEM. 

The  next  morning  as  soon  as  I  had  eaten  breakfast  and 
Scout  had  "cleaned  up"  the  fragments,  I  set  off  towards  a 
long  line  of  timber  that  was  just  barely  visible  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  prairie.  Not  a  great  while  after  I  had  started  I 
noticed  a  long  way  off  to  the  west,  a  column  of  smoke  rising 
up,  which  I  supposed  indicated  an  encampment  of  Mexicans 
or  Indians  in  that  quarter.  When  I  had  traveled  perhaps 
three  or  four  miles,  I  observed  that  this  smoke  was  increasing 
rapidly  in  volume  and  extent,  and  that  it  appeared  to  be  ap- 
proaching the  direction  I  was  going.  Then,  for  the  first  time 
it  occurred  to  me  that  the  prairie  was  on  fire,  and  I  began  to 
be  seriously  apprehensive  that  the  fire  might  overtake  me  be- 
fore I  could  reach  the  timber.  The  grass  of  the  last  season's 
growth  was  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  in  height,  and  as 
dry  as  tinder,  and  it  seemed  very  probable,  with  the  stiff 
breeze  blowing  at  the  time,  that  the  fire  would  overtake  me 
before  I  could  gain  the  opposite  side  of  the  prairie,  still  five 
or  six  miles  distant.  I  hurried  on  as  fast  as  I  could,  but  be- 
fore I  had  gone  two  miles  further,  I  was  convinced  that  escape 
by  flight  was  impossible.  I  had  heard  old  frontiersmen  say, 
that  the  only  thing  to  be  done  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  was  to 
"fight  fire  with  fire."  I  took  my  flint  and  steel  from  my 
pocket,  ignited  some  tinder  which  I  wrapped  in  a  wisp  of  dry 
grass,  and  swinging  it  quickly  backwards  and  forwards  in  my 


Earli)  Tillies  in  Texas. 

hand,  it  was  soon  in  a  blaze.  With  this  I  set  fire  to  the  grass 
ahead  of  me,  and  in  a  few  moments  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  my  counter  fire  sweeping  the  grass  that  grew  in  the 
direction  I  was  going. 

By  this  time  the  wall  of  fire  extending  in  a  long  line  across 
the  prairie  behind  me,  was  swiftly  moving  towards  me.  Al- 
ready I  could  see  bright  tongues  of  flame  flashing  out  at 
intervals  through  the  dense  column  of  smoke,  and  a  dull  con- 
tinuous roar,  like  the  distant  beating  of  surf  on  a  rock  bound 
shore,  was  distinctly  audible.  Hundreds  of  deer,  antelope 
and  other  animals  «ame  scampering  by  me  in  the  wildest 
terror,  and  numerous  vultures  and  hawks  were  seen  hovering 
over  the  smoke,  and  occasionally  pouncing  down  upon  rab- 
bits and  other  small  animals,  roused  from  their  lair  by  the 
advancing  flames.  The  nearer  it  came  the  faster  it  seemed 
to  come,  and  I  could  see  blazing  tufts  of  grass  borne  along 
by  the  wind  setting  fire  to  the  prairie  sometimes  fifty  or  a 
hundred  yards  ahead  of  the  main  fire.  But  by  the  time  it 
had  reached  the  place  where  I  had  set  my  counter  fire  going, 
the  grass  for  several  hundred  yards  was  burnt  off,  and  of 
course  the  fire  was  arrested  there  for  want  of  fuel.  I  had 
nothing  to  do  but  follow  the  track  of  the  fire  I  had  started, 
which  cleared  the  way  before  me  as  I  went,  and  rendered 
walking  much  less  fatiguing  than  it  otherwise  would  have 
been — verifying  the  truth  of  the  old  saying  "that  it  is  an  ill 
wind  that  blows  no  good." 

In  about  two  hours  after  I  had  set  my  counter  fire  going,  I 
came  to  the  outskirts  of  the  timber  for  which  I  had  been 
steering,  and  through  which  I  continued  my  course  until  I 
was  stopped  by  a  deep  bayou.  On  the  bank  of  this  bayou 
in  a  little  open  space  not  twenty  feet  square,  I  pitched  my 
camp,  and  from  the  fallen  trees  around  I  collected  fuel  enough 
to  keep  my  fire  going  all  night.  There  I  soon  prepared  a 
meal  irom  the  provisions  I  had  in  my  knapsack,  to  which  1 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  129 

and  Scout  did  ample  justice  as  we  had  not  tasted  food  since 
early  in  the  morning.  As  it  was  still  several  hours  till  night? 
I  employed  myselt  in  repairing  my  dilapidated  wardrobe  with 
a  needle  and  some  thread  I  had  found  in  my  house  on  Old 
Caney. 

Nothing  occurred  to  disturb  my  slumbers  during  the  night. 
Ts^e  next  morning  after  breakfast  I  shouldered  my  knapsack 
and  started  again.  The  bayou  on  which  I  had  camped, 
though  the  current  was  very  strong,  looked  so  narrow  I  thought 
I  could  easily  swim  it  without  taking  off  my  knapsack;  so  I 
plunged  in  at  once,  but  unfortunately  when  I  had  about 
reached  the  middle  of  the  stream,  one  of  the  straps  that  held 
it  in  position  gave  way,  and  in  an  instant  the  rapid  current 
twisted  it  around  my  neck,  and  I  went  down  with  it  like  a 
stone  to  the  bottom.  I  exerted  myself  to  the  utmost  to  free 
myself  from  it  but  without  success,  until  I  thought  of  my 
carving  knives.  With  great  difficulty  I  drew  one  of  them 
from  the  scabbard  (it  seemed  to  me  that  everything  about 
me  was  tangled  up)  and  cut  the  strap  that  fastened  the  knap- 
sack around  my  neck.  The  moment  I  was  freed  from  it  I 
rose  to  the  surface,  puffing  and  blowing;  like  a  porpoise,  and 
half  strangled  with  the  water  I  had  swallowed  much  against 
my  will,  for  I  was  not  in  the  least  thirsty.  Scout  having  no 
knapsack  to  encumber  him,  had  already  reached  the  opposite 
shore,  and  was  running  up  and  down  the  bank,  whining  most 
dolorously,  and  showing  plainly  his  anxious  concern  for  my 
safety.  I  quickly  gained  the  shore  myself  after  coming  to 
the  surface,  but  alas  !  I  was  compelled  to  leave  my  precious 
knapsack  which  contained  our  whole  supply  of  provisions, 
at  the  bottom  of  the  bayou.  However,  I  was  very  glad  to 
get  out  of  the  scrape  as  well  as  I  had  done. 

The  first  thing  I  did  after  reaching  the  shore,  was  to  exam- 
ine the  condition  of  my  tinder,  and  I  was  glad  to  find  that 
but  little  water  had  penetrated  the  greased  cloth  in  which  it 


j:ii>  Early  Times  in  Texas. 

was  wrapped.  I  took  it  out  and  spread  it  in  the  sunshine,  so 
that  what  little  moisture  it  had  imbibed  might  evaporate.  If 
I  had  lost  my  tinder  as  well  as  my  provisions,  I  would  have 
been  in  a  truly  pitiable  condition. 

When  I  had  partially  dried  my  clothes,  I  set  out  again  in 
my  usual  direetion,  which  led  me  for  some  distance  through 
a  thick  growth  of  underbrush,  from  which  I  finally  emerged 
into  open  post  oak  woods.  I  went  on  through  these  until 
nearly  sunset,  when  the  howling  of  wolves  warned  me  that 
it  was  time  to  select  a  suitable  place  to  encamp.  I  chose  a 
spot  in  a  thick  grove  on  the  margin  of  a  pond.  There  I 
started  a  fire,  and  as  I  had  to  go  to  bed  supperless,  I  deter- 
mined that  at  any  rate  my  bed  should  be  a  good  one.  With 
one  of  my  carving  knives  I  cut  a  quantity  of  long  dry  grass, 
which  I  spread  before  the  fire,  on  which  I  and  Scout  after  the 
mishaps  and  fatigues  of  the  day  slept  soundly  till  morning. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  as  I  had  no  breakfast  to  cook 
and  eat,  I  was  on  my  way  again,  and  in  a  little  while  I  came 
to  a  prairie,  on  the  farther  side  of  which  I  saw  a  forest  and  a 
large  lake  near  it.  Towards  this  lake  and  forest  I  steered  my 
course,  but  after  traveling  some  distance,  I  was  astonished  to 
find  that  apparently  they  were  as  far  off  as  when  I  first  saw 
them.  Whilst  I  was  wondering  at  this,  I  noticed  that  the  lake 
and  forest  were  each  moment  growing  more  indistinct,  and 
at  length  they  vanished  altogether,  and  in  their  place  nothing 
was  visible  but  the  level  expanse  of  the  open  prairie.  I  knew 
then  that  the  appearance  of  this  lake  and  woods  was  an  opti- 
cal illusion  termed  a  "mirage."  produced  by  some  peculiar 
state  of  the  atmosphere.  I  have  frequently  seen  them  since, 
on  the  plains  in  the  west,  and  on  several  occasions  have  been 
cruelly  tantalized  when  suffering  from  thirst,  by  the  sight  of 
lakes  that  disappeared  before  I  could  reach  them. 

After  traveling  a  while  longer,  I  saw  some  distance  ahead 
of  me  a  grove,  and  still  further  on  a  forest  was  dimly  visible. 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobett.  131 

At  first  I  thought  it  probable  that  these  also  were  only  the 
ghosts  of  a  grove  and  forest,  and  that  they  too  would  disap- 
pear and  give  me  the  slip,  but  they  proved  to  be  the  "genuine 
articles."  To  this  forest  I  steered  my  course,  guided  by  the 
intervening  grove.  I  saw  several  squads  of  Mexican  cavalry 
on  the  way,  but  they  did  not  come  near  me,  and  I  avoided 
observation  simply  by  lying  down  on  the  ground,  until  they 
had  passed  by.  But  what  astonished  me  much  was,  that 
these  squads  were  all  traveling  in  a  disorderly  manner  towards 
the  west.  It  soon  occurred  to  me,  however,  that  the  Mexican 
army  must  have  met  somewhere  with  a  signal  defeat,  and 
that  those  I  saw  were  straggling  detachments  from  their 
routed  forces.  I  have  no  doubt  this  supposition  was  correct, 
for  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  in  which  Santa  Anna  was  taken 
prisoner,  was  fought  and  won  by  the  Texans  under  Gen. 
Houston,  a  few  days  previously. 

About  noon,  I  came  to  the  grove  that  had  served  me  as  a 
landmark  to  guide  me  on  my  course,  and  feeling  somewhat 
fatigued,  I  laid  down  just  outside  of  it  to  rest  a  while.  I  had 
been  there  but  a  few  moments  when  I  had  practical  evidence 
that  the  vast  distance  at  which  the  buzzard  is  said  to  see  a 
carcass  on  the  ground,  had  not  been  exaggerated.  When  I 
laid  down  not  a  buzzard  was  in  sight,  although  I  had  an  un- 
broken view  for  miles  in  every  direction,  but  in  less  than  five 
minutes,  half  a  dozen  of  them  were  wheeling  and  circling 
above  my  head,  and  coming  lower  and  lower,  evidently  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  Scout  and  I  had  been  killed 
long  enough  to  suit  their  fastidious  taste.  "My  friends,"  said 
I,  "on  this  occasion  you  are  a  little  too  'previous' — you  have 
come  very  near  several  times  having  the  satisfaction  of  pick- 
ing my  bones,  but  to  prove  to  you  that  I  am  not  as  yet  a  fit 
subject  for*a  'post  mortem'  feast,  I'll  move  on."  The  first 
movement  I  made  satisfied  them  on  that  point,  and  they  de- 
parted as  quickly  as  they  had-come. 


/.•)•;>  Hurl >/   Times   in    7V.m.s. 

Continuing  my  course,  about  sun  set  I  came  to  a  deep  and 
rapid  stream,  which  I  know  now  was  the  San  Bernard,  and  I 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  bank.  By  this  time  I  was  suf- 
fering much  from  hunger,  but  there  was  nothing  in  camp  to 
eat,  and  I  and  Scout  were  compelled  to  satisfy  the  cravings 
of  our  appetites  as  well  as  we  could,  by  going  to  sleep.  The 
poet  calls  sleep  "tired  nature's  sweet  restorer,"  and  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  no  doubt  there  is  some  truth  as  well 
as  poetry  in  the  saying,  but  when  a  fellow  has  had  nothing  to 
eat  for  several  days,  and  his  bed  is  the  naked  ground,  sleep 
as  a  restorer  isn't  a  marked  success — at  least  I  was  just  as 
tired  and  hungry  when  I  woke  up  the  next  morning  as  I  was 
when  I  laid  down.  However,  I  was  in  hopes  that  I  might 
find  a  settlement  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  where  some- 
thing to  eat  could  be  had,  and  without  any  preparation  ex- 
cept simply  tying  my  cap  on  my  head  securely  to  keep  my 
precious  tinder  from  getting  wet,  I  plunged  into  the  turbid 
stream  closely  followed  by  Scout.  The  water  was  very  cold, 
but  I  soon  crossed  over  and  ascended  the  bank  that  rose  up 
almost  perpendicularly  thirty  or  forty  feet  on  that  side  of  the 
stream. 

When  I  got  to  the  top  of  the  bluff,  I  discovered  a  house  a 
few  hundred  yards  above  me,  to  which  I  turned  my  course. 
As  it  was  all  open  prairie  on  that  side  of  the  river  except  a 
few  scattering  groves,  I  had  a  good  chance  to  reconoitre 
the  premises  before  approaching  them,  and  seeing  nothing  to 
indicate  that  the  house  was  occupied,  I  went  up.  It  proved 
to  be  a  single  log  cabin,  in  rather  a  dilapidated  condition, 
and  had  been  ransacked  by  some  plundering  party  of  Mexi- 
cans who  had  taken  or  destroyed  any  provisions  that  might 
have  been  there,  except  a  handful  of  corn  I  found  in  a  barrel. 
As  I  was  thoroughly  chilled  after  swimming  the'river,  I  con- 
cluded I  would  build  a  fire  in  the  chimnev  for  the  double 


AdtientureS  of  Jack  Dobell-  133 

purpose  of  drying   my  clothes  and   parching  the   corn  I  had 
found . 

There  was  but  one  door  and  one  window  to  the  cabin, 
both  on  the  same  side,  and  while  1  was  busily  engaged  in 
parching  corn,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  a  grating  sound  in 
the  direction  of  the  window,  and  turning  to  look,  I  saw  the 
muzzle  of  a  gun  protruding  through  it.  But  Scout  had  no- 
ticed it,  too,  and  giving  a  savage  growl,  he  sprang  at  one 
bound  through  the  window,  and  at  the  same  instant  almost  I 
heard  some  one  rip  out  an  oath  in  good,  King's  English,  and 
exclaiming  "come  take  your  dog  off,"  in  such  choking  ac- 
cents as  convinced  me  there  was  urgent  need  of  haste.  I  ran 
out  immediately,  and  with  some  difficulty  forced  Scout  to  let 
go  the  grip  he  had  taken  upon  a  thick  woolen  comforter, 
which  fortunately  for  him,  my  visitor  had  wrapped  around 
his  neck. 

After  he  had  somewhat  recovered  from  the  surprise  and 
alarm  into  which  the  unexpected  onset  of  Scout  had  thrown 
him,  he  asked  me  where  I  was  from,  and  how  I  came  to  be 
out  there  all  alone  among  the  Mexicans  and  Indians.  When 
I  had  satisfied  him  on  this  point,  he  told  me  that  he  and  a 

Capt.  D were  out  on  a  spying  expedition,  and  seeing  a 

smoke  coming  out  of  the  cabin  chimney  where  I  was  carry 
ing  on  my  culinary  operations,  they  had  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  a  party  of  Mexicans  had  halted  there.  After  a  con- 
sultation as  to  the  best  mode  of  proceeding,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  Capt.  D should  remain  with  the  horses  under 

cover  of  a  grove  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  cabin,  whilst 

his  companion,  Mr.  H ,  should  cautiously  approach  it  on 

foot,  and  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  party  within.  If  too 
strong  for  them  to  contend  with,  he  was  to  fire  upon  them 
through  the  door  or  window  and  then  make  his  retreat  as 

fast  as  possible  to  the  grove  where  he  had  left   Capt.  D 

and  the  horses.     But  in  arranging  this  programme,  they  did 


134  Kuril/  '/Y/Hf.s  in  Texas. 

not  consult  Scout,  who  revenged  himself  in  the  manner  I 
have  stated.  Afrer  giving  me  this  information  and  telling  me 
that  the  Texans  had  whipped  the  Mexicans  at  San  Jacinto, 

etc.,  Mr.  H gave  a  whoop  (the  preconcerted  signal  for 

Capt.  D to  come  on),  and  in  a  few  moments  he  rode  up, 

leading  H 's  horse  and  another  one,  which  to  my  great 

satisfaction  I  found  was  well  packed  with  provisions.  As  I 
have  stated,  I  already  had  a  fire  under  way,  and  in  a  little 
while  a  pot  of  coffee  was  simmering  on  it,  and  a  haversack 
of  eatables,  biscuits,  potatoes,  cold  ham,  etc.,  was  spread 
upon  the  floor.  Those  biscuits!  I  shall  never  forget  them! 
None  of  your  little  thin  flimsy  affairs,  such  as  are  usually 
seen  on  fashionable  tables,  but  good  solid  fat  fellows,  each 
as  big  as  a  saucer,  and  with  dark  colored  spots  in  the  center, 
where  the  "shortening"  had  settled  in  the  process  of  baking. 

When  the  coffee  was  ready  I  was  invited  to  "pitch  in,'' 
which  I  did  promptly  and  without  any  pressing,  after  casting 
a  contemptuous  look  towards  the  little  pile  of  parched  corn 
on  the  hearth,  which  I  had  previously  prepared  for  my  break- 
fast. 

As  well  as  I  remember,  I  think  I  was  dealing  with  my  fifth 
biscuit,  and  was  looking  longingly  toward  the  sixth,  when 
Capt.  D mildly  suggested  that  in  his  opinion  I  had  bet- 
ter "knock  off"  for  a  while  for  fear  of  consequences.  To  this 
I  made  no  reply  except  to  seize  the  sixth  biscuit,  and  while 

1  was  disposing  of  that,  Capt.  D expeditiously  cleared 

the  board,  and  deposited  the  remainder  of  the  provisions  in 
the  haversack.  We  then  mounted  the  horses  (the  pack  ani- 
mal having  been  turned  over  to  me)  and  in  a  day  or  so  we 
reached  the  Brazos,  where  a  portion  of  the  Texan  army  was 
encamped. 

I  have  nothing  further  to  add,  except  that  when  I  left  for 
the  "States"  a  month  or  so  subsequently,  finding  it  impossi- 
ble, owing  to  the  crowded  condition  of  the  schooner  in  which 


Adventures  of  Jack  Dobell.  135 

I  sailed  to  take  Scout  with  me,  I  gave  him  to  my  friend  H , 

who  promised  me  he  should  be  well    taken    care   of.     Many 

years  afterwards  I  met  with  H at  Austin,  and  he  told  me 

that  Scout  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  died  the  respected 
progenitor  of  a  breed  of  dogs  that  were  highly  prized  for  their 
valuable  qualities. 


[THE  END.] 


APPENDIX. 


LIST    OF    MEN   UNDER   THE    COMMAND    OF    COL. 

J.  W.  FANNIN  IN  1835—36. 


[Copy  of  the  original  list  of  the  men  in  Col.  J.  W.  Fannin's 
command,  original  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Joseph  H.  Bar- 
nard, Assisstant  Surgeon  of  the  Division,  and  now  deposited 
in  the  Historical  Department  at  Austin.] 


"A  list  of  the  men  under  the  command  of  Col.  J.  W.  Fan- 
nin,  who  were  in  the  battle  of  Endnal  del  Perdido  on  the  pth 
of  March,  1836,  and  of  those  under  the  command  of  Lieut. 
Col.  Wm.  Ward,  who  were  with  him  at  the  battle  of  the  Mis- 
sion del  Refugio,  March  isth,  1836. 


J.  W.  Fannin,  Colonel  commanding, 
William  Ward,  Lieutenant  Colonel, 
Warren  Mitchell,  Major  "Georgia  Battallion,7' 
Benj.  C.  Wallace,  Major  "Lafayette  Battallion,' 

Chadwick,  Adjutant, 

J.  S.  Brooks,  Adjutant, 
Gideon  Rose,  Sergeant  Major, 
David  J,  Holt,  Quartermaster, 
Joseph  E.  Field,  Surgeon, 
Joseph  H.  Barnard,  Surgeon. 


244  Appendix. 

GEORGIA    BATTALION. 

Warren  Mitchell,  Major. 

CAPT.  KING'S  COMPANY. 

Aaron  B.  King,  Captain, 
Samuel  Anderson,  Sergeant, 
Geo.  W.  Penny,  Sergeant, 
J.  K.  Callison,  Sergeant, 
Wm.  R.  Johnston,  Sergeant. 

J.  C.  Humphries,  L.  C.  Gibbs, 

J.  C.  Stewart,  H.  H.  Kirk, 

L.  G.  H.  Bracy,  T.  Cooke, 

James  Henley,  Jackson  Davis, 

Garvin  H.  Smith,  R.  A.  Toler, 

Benj.  Oldum,  Francis  Dietrich, 

F.  Davis,  J.  Colegram, 

Snead  Ledbetter,  Wm.  S.  Armstrong, 

Joel  Heth,  Johnson. 

CAPT.  BULLOCK'S  COMPANY. 

F.  M.  Hunt,  First  Sergeant, 
Bradford  Fowler,  Second  Sergeant, 
Allison  Arms,  Third  Sergeant, 

Jas.  B.  Munson,  First  Corporal, 
T.  S.  Freeman,  Second  Corporal, 
S.  T.  Brown,  Third  Corporal, 

G.  M.  Vigal,  Fourth  Corporal. 

Joseph  Andrews,  Isaac  Aldridge, 

Wm.  S.  Butler,  J.  H.  Barnwell, 

George  W.  Cumming,  Wm.  A.  J.  Brown, 


Appendix.  245 

Joseph  Dennis,  Michael  Devreaux, 

—  Ellis,  Chas.  Fine, 

Gibbs,  Pierce  Hammock, 

Saml.  G.  Hardaway,  Prury  H.  Minor, 

John  O.  Moore,  Benj.  H.  Mordecai, 

John  Moat,  R.  McKenzie, 

L.  T.  Pease,  Robt.  A.  Pace, 

Austin  Perkins,  Saml.  Rowe, 

John  T.  Spillers,  John  S.  Scully, 

Thos.  I.  Smith,  Thos.  Stewart, 

Jas.  A.  Stovall,  Tresevant, 

Wm.  L.  Wilkerson,  Weeks, 

Wood,  Jas.  McCay, 

Moses  Butler,  A.  H.  Osborne.* 

CAPT.  JAMES  C.  WINN'S  COMPANY. 

Wiley  Hughes,  First  Lieutenant, 
Daniel  B.  Brooks,  Second  Lieutenant, 
Anthony  Bates,  First  Sergeant, 
John  S.  Thorn,  Second  Sergeant, 
J.  H.  Callaghan,  Third  Sergeant, 
Wesley  Hughes,  Fourth  Sergeant, 
John  Gimble,  First  Corporal, 
Walter  M.  Davis,  Second  Corporal, 
Abraham  Stevens,  Third  Corporal, 
J.  M.  Powers,  Fourth  Corporal, 
Ray,   Corporal, 

John  Aldridge,  John  M.  Bryson, 

Michael  Carroll,  Thomas  H.  Corbys, 


*NOTE — Osborne  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  the  Mission 
and  was  left  there.     I  believe  he  escaped.  « 


246  Appendix. 

John  Ely,  George  Eubanks 

Dominie  Gallaglie,  Nelson  Helms, 

Greer  Lee,  Joseph  Loving, 

Alexander  J.  Lovelady,  Martin  Moran, 

Aaron  S.  Mangum,  Watkins  Nobles, 

John  M.  Oliver,  Patrick  Osburn, 

William  Parvin,  Gideon  S.  Ross, 

Anderson  Ray,  Thomas  Rumly, 

William  Shelton,  James  Smith, 

Christopher  Winters,  Harrison  Young, 

Josias  B.  Beall,  John  Bright, 

Reason  Banks,  H.  Shultz. 

CAPT.  WARDSORTH'S  COMPANY. 

John  B.  Reese,  First  Lieutenant, 
J.  L.  Wilson,  Second  Lieutenant, 
S.  A.  J.  Mays,  Second  Sergeant, 
Samuel  Wallace,  Third  Sergeant, 
J.  H.  Neely,  Fourth  Sergeant, 
James  McSherry,  First  Corporal, 
J.  T.  Brown,  Second  Corporal, 
J.  B.  Murphy,  Third  Corporal, 

George  Rounds,  William  Abercrombie, 

T.  H.  Barton,  J.  H.  Clark, 

W.  J.  Cawan,  E.  Durrain, 

J.  A.  Forster,  Joseph  Gamble, 

F.  Gilkerson,  William  Gilbert, 

Thos.  Horry,  A.  J.  Hitchcock, 

Allen  Ingram,  John  P.  C.  Kennymore, 

'.H.Moore,  -•  <£  C.  "Milne, 

M-  K.  Mo  j.  B.  Rodgers, 

R-  Slatter,  j.  H.  Sanders, 


W,  S.  Turberville, 
H.  Rodgers. 


Appendix. 

E.  Wingate, 


,247 


CAPT.  i.  TICKNOR'S  COMPANY. 

Memory  A.  Tatom,  First  Lieutenant, 
Wra.  A.  Smith,  Second  Lieutenant, 
Edmund  Patterson,  First  Sergeant, 
Nicholas  B.  Waters,  Second  Sergeant, 
Richard  Rutledge,  Third  Sergeant, 
Saml.  C.  Pittman,  Fourth  Sergeant. 


Joseph  B.  Tatom, 
Perry  Reese, 
Thomas  Weston, 
John  McGowen, 
Samuel  Wood, 
Isaac  N.  Wright, 
Washington  Mitchell, 
Henry  Harty, 
Cornelius  Rooney, 
Cullen  Canard, 
Edward  Fitzsimmons, 
C.  F.  Hick, 
Wm.  Comstock, 
Charles  Lautz, 
A.  M.  Lynch, 
Layton  Allen, 

Swords, 

Wm.  P.  B.  Dubose. 


James  C.  Jack, 
Thomas  Reeves, 
D.  Greene, 
David  Johnson, 
William  Welsh, 
Wm.  L.  Alston, 
Stephen  Baker, 
James  A  Bradford, 
Seaborn  A.  Mills, 
James  O,  Young, 
Hezekiah  Frost, 
O.  F.  Leverett, 
John  O.  Daniel, 
Evans  M.  Thomas, 
G.  W.  Carlisle, 
Jesse  Harms, 
— —  Williams, 


LAFAYETTE  BATTALION. 

Benj.  C.  Wallace,  Major. 


248 


Appendix. 


CAPT.  SHACKLEFORD'S  COMPANY. 

Jack  Shackleford,  Captain, 

Francis,  Second  Lieutenant, 

Fortunatus  S.  Shackleford,  Orderly  Sergeant, 

J.  D.  Hamilton,  Second  Sergeant, 

A.  G.  Foley,  Thirti  Sergeant, 

T.  M.  Short,  Fourth  Sergeant, 

H.  H.  Bentley,  First  Corporal, 

D.  Moore,  Second  Corporal, 

J.  H.  Barkley,  Third  Corporal, 

A.  Winter,  Fourth  Corporal. 


P.  H.  Anderson, 

Z.  M.  Brooks, 

E.  Burbidge, 

Wm.  Bayhaye  (deserted) 

J.  W.  Cain, 

Harvey  Cox, 

J.  G.  Coe, 

S.  Connor  (lost  on  express) 

G.  L.  Davis, 

A.  Dickson, 

R.  T.  Davidson, 

J.  E.  Ellis, 

Robert  Fenner, 

James  G.  Ferguson, 

M.  C.  Garner, 

Wm.  Gunter, 

Wra.  Hemphill, 

John  Jackson, 

E.  Ludington,  (deserted) 

John  H.  Miller, 

J.  E.  Seaton, 


Joseph  Blackwell, 

F.  W.  Burts, 

T.  N.  Barnhill, 

W.  C.  Douglass, 

D.  Cooper, 

Seth  Clark, 

Cantwell, 

Alfred  Dorsey, 

H.  B.  Day, 
J.  W.  Duncan, 

Derritt,  (deserted) 

Samuel  Farney, 
Joseph  Fenner, 
E.  B.  Franklin, 
D.  Gamble, 
J-  E.  Grimes, 
John  Hyser, 
John  Kelly, 
Daniel  Murdock, 
W.  Simpson, 
W.  J.  Shackleford, 


Appendix.  249 

B.  Strunk,  F.  W.  Savage, 
James  Vaughn,  N.  E.  Vaughn, 
Robert  Wilson,  James  Wilder, 
Wm.  Quinn,  Henry  L.  Douglas. 
H.  W.  Jones,  John  R.  Jackson, 

CAPT.  DUNAL'S  COMPANY. 

B.  H.  Duval,  Captain, 
.          Samuel  Wilson,  First  Lieutenant, 

J.  Q,  Merrifield,  Second  Lieutenant, 
G.  W.  Daniel,  First  Sergeant, 
J.  S.  Bagley,  Second  Sergeant, 
E.  P.  G.  Chism,  Third  Sergeant, 
N.  Dickerson,  Fourth  Sergeant, 
N.  B.  Hawkins,  Corporal, 
A.  B.  Williams,  Corporal, 
A.  K.  Lynd,  Corporal, 
R.  C.  Brashear,  Corporal. 

T.  G.  Allen,  J.  M.  Adams, 

T.  F.  Bellows,  Wm.  S.  Carlson, 

Thos.  S.  Churchill,  Wm.  H.  Cole, 

John  C.  Duval,  H.  W.  Downman, 

John  Donohoo,  George  Dyer, 

John  Holliday,  C.  R.  Haskill, 

Johnson,  Q.  P.  Kemps, 

A.  G.  Lemond,  Wm.  Mayer, 

J.  McDonald,  William  Mason, 

Harvey  Martin,  Robert  Owens, 

R.  R.  Owens,  Sharpe, 

L.  S.  Simpson,  Sanders, 

C.  B.  Shaine,  L.  Tilson, 


Appendix. 

B.  W.  Toliver,  J.  K.  Volkner, 

John  Van  Bibber,  S.  Van  Bibber, 
-  Batts,  — Woolrich, 

Wm.  Waggoner. 


CAPT.  PETTUS'  COMPANY. 


-  Pettus,  Captain, 
John  Grace,  Lieutenant, 
E.  S.  Heath,  Sergeant, 
Wm.  L.  Hunter,  Sergeant, 

—  James,  Sergeant, 
Samuel  Riddel,  Sergeant. 

:-  -'•  <-'arriere,  Allen  O.  Kenney, 

James  P.  Riddle,  F.  H.  Gray, 

George  Green,  Charles  Sergeant, 

Holland,  fn-roj-f 

~  v^OAari, 

Wni.  G.  Preusch,  John  Wood, 

Dennis  Mahoney,  Noah  Dickinson, 

George  M.  Gilland,  George  Noss, 
•vid  J.  Jones,  .__  Wallace, 

•Vm.  Harper,  Wm>  Brenan, 

Edward  Moody,  Escottj 

Manuel  Carbajal, 

}tt'  Gould, 

J°hnson.  A.  Bynurn, 

^.od  Chas.  Phillips, 

J.  M.  Cass, 
Peter  Griffin, 
L°8an>  Milton  Irish. 


Appendix. 


251 


CAPT.  BURKE'S  COMPANY. 


J.  B.  McMannony,  First  Lieutenant, 
James  Kelly,  Orderly  Sergeant, 
H.  D.  Ripley,  Sergeant, 


Kneeland  Taylor, 
P.  T.  Kissam, 
Orlando  Wheeler, 
Wm.  Rosinberry, 
Alvin  C.  White, 
M.  P.  King, 
Wm.  P.  Wood, 
Peter  Mattern, 
Conrad  Egenour, 
Jos.  H.  Spohn, 
N.  J.  Devenny, 
Wm.  Hunter, 
S.  M.  Edwards, 
A.  Swords, 
Charles  Linley, 
Randolph  T.  Spaine. 


Chas.  B.  Jennings, 
John  Richards, 
John  D.  Cunningham, 
Wm.  McMurray, 
John  Chew, 
Jacob  Colman, 
Wm.  Stephens, 
Hermann  Ehrenberg, 
G.  F.  Courtman, 
Thos.  Kemp, 
James  Reid, 
M.  G.  Frazier, 
Wm.  J.  Green, 
Z.  O.  Neil, 
Wm.  Gatlin, 


CAPT.  P.  s.  WYATT'S  COMPANY. 

B.  T.  Bradford,  First  Lieutenant, 
Oliver  Smith,  Second  Lieutenant, 
Wm.  Wallace,  First  Sergeant, 
George  Thayer,  Second  Sergeant, 
Henry  Wilkins,  Third  Sergeant, 
J.  D.  Rains,  Fourth  Sergeant, 
Oliver  Brown,  Quartermaster, 
Peter  Allen,  Musician. 


Appendix. 


Bennett  Butler, 
Ewing  Caruthers, 
Perry  Davis, 
T.  B.  Frizel, 
Edward  Fuller, 
H.  G.  Hudson, 
John  Lumkin, 

Clennon, 

Charles  Patton, 
Wrn.  R.  Simpson, 
Allen  Wren, 
F.  Peterswitch, 
James  Hamilton. 


Gabriel  Bush, 
N.  Dembrinski, 
Henry  Dixon, 
J.  H.  Fisher, 
Frederick  Gibenrath, 
J.  Korticky, 
E.  Nixon, 
J.  F.  Morgan, 
John  R.  Parker, 
Frederick  Leveman, 
Wm.  S.  Parker, 
E.  D.  Harrison, 


REGULAR  AEMY. 


CAPT.  WESTOVER'S  COMPANY. 

Ira  Westover,  Captain, 
Lewis  N.  Gates,  Second  Lieutenant, 
Wm.  S.  Brown,  First  Sergeant, 
George  McKnight,  Second  Sergeant, 
John  McGloin,  Third  Sergeant. 


Augustus  Baker, 
John  Cross, 
Wm.  Harris, 
Dennis  McGowan, 
A.  M.  O'Boyle, 
Thomas  Quirk, 
Thomas  Smith,  alias  Abel 
Morgan, 


Matthew  Byrne, 
John  Fagan, 
John  Kelly, 
Patrick  Nevin, 
George  Pettick, 
Edward  Ryan, 
E.  J.  A.  Greynolds 
Marion  Betts, 


Appendix. 


253 


Daniel  Buckley, 
G.  W.  Coglan, 
Richard  Disney, 
Otis  G.  Belles, 
Robert  English, 
Wm.  Hatfield, 
Charles  Jenson, 
John  Mumlin, 
Sidney  Smith, 
Lewis  Shatts, 
Joseph  W.  Watson, 
Wm.  Winningham, 


Mathew  Conway, 
George  Dearick, 
Andrew  K.  Eddy, 
John  Gleeson, 
John  Kitchard, 
Wm.  Mann, 
Stephen  Pierce, 
Daniel  Syers, 
Charles  Stewart, 
James  Webb, 
Arit.  Siley, 
John  James, 


UNATTACHED. 


Wm.  Scurlock, 
Daniel  Murphy, 

—  Bills, 
John  Williams, 
Samuel  Sprague, 
James  Pittman, 
R.  R.  Petty, 
Charles  Heck, 
G.  W.  Cash, 
Wm.  Haddon, 
Francis  Garcia, 
Napoleon  B.  Williams, 
Hughes  Witt, 
Thomas  Dasher, 

Duffield, 

Spencer. 


Nat.  Hazen, 

Hurst, 

Capt.  Dusanque, 
Capt.  Frazer, 

Hughes, 

C.  Hardwick, 

Jones, 

Nat.  R.  Brister, 
Erastus  Yeamans, 
Daniel  Martindale, 
Charles  Smith, 
Ransom  O.  Graves, 
Lewis  Powell, 
George  Pain, 
John  J.  Hand, 


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